The Housing Works Bookstore Café was founded in 1998 and serves as one of the primary sources of revenue for the Housing Works organization, a nonprofit that serves thousands of homeless men, women, and children in New York City living with HIV/AIDS. Located in SoHo, the Housing Works Bookstore Café is amazing as it is noble!
The Housing Works Bookstore Café is the brainchild of famous AIDS activists Keith Cylar, Charles King, Eric Sawyer, and Virginia Shubert. The goal was to create a self-sustaining social enterprise whose profits would provide dependable housing to homeless HIV/AIDS survivors. This would help the survivors live healthy and fulfilling lives and prevent further spread of the virus. Today, the Housing Works organization is self-sustaining and earns about 90% of its revenue from social enterprises including the Bookstore Café.
The Bookstore Café has been a successful establishment for over a decade because of its great value to its customers. Housing one of the most extensive literary collections in lower Manhattan within its two-floor main room, any reader enthusiasts will feel welcomed here. The light and airy ambiance is complimented by some fun and unconventional fare at the Café, i.e. you can order beer and wine! What’s better than books and beer!
SoHo is a neighborhood that is distinguished by its sophisticated populace, chic retail stores and expensive real estate. Yet in the midst of the Manhattan’s hippest neighborhood lies its heart and soul, the Housing Works Bookstore Café.
