Lunch at Angel Guardians Free Lunch Cafe

I have been dying to check out the Angel Guardians Free Lunch Cafe and today I had the chance!  

The mission of Angel Guardians is to "improve the quality of life for special-needs teens and adults in the areas of housing, employment, fitness, socialization, and recreation".  It all started when a local family's youngest son, who had Down Syndrome, became a teenager and didn't have anywhere to hang out on the weekends.  They started the VSP (Very Special People) club, a rec center for people with special needs.  They have dances, play pool, watch movies, and plan outings to baseball games and other fun activities.  

Angel Guardians later expanded their services to AngelWorks, offering career training in fun and rewarding jobs like sewing, jewelry making, furniture repurposing, dog treat making, and now the free lunch cafe!  I had the highly talked about Margarita pizza and it definitely lived up to the hype!  

There are two thrift stores in Omaha that help fund Angel Guardians.  They also employ people from the career center and sell the goods they make like t-shirt scarves, t-shirt rugs, rosaries, dog toys and treats, wall canvases and much more!  Angel Guardians is also in the works of creating campus style housing for people with special needs.

I first learned about Angel Guardians when I was pregnant with Clay and just happened into their thrift store.  I noticed that numerous employees had Down Syndrome so I asked the woman working the register about their connection with special needs.  She was so sweet and explained their services to me.  I have also had more chances to connect with and learn more about them through my mom's support group.  

I think the story behind Angel Guardians is SO great and the services they provide are amazing.  I loved seeing the joy and sense of accomplishment our server had today.  The kitchen staff greeted us at the front door and were LOVING on Clay!  I hope that one day Clay will get to take part in some of the great things that Angel Guardians has to offer and I am excited to see them continue to expand their awesome services.

How can you help?  http://www.angelguardians.org/Get_Involved.html

The Free Lunch Cafe (they take donations) is open from 11-1 Monday - Friday.  

Call 402.334.5232 for reservations.