Caf?t 407

Inside the bathroom, a door hanging encourages people by telling them that “life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s about learning to dance in the rain.” From the comfy chairs and fireplace, to the colorful artwork and notebook and pen on each table for everyone to leave their thoughts on what “beauty is…,” it’s hard to feel out of place.

Although the café’s grand opening was Saturday, Dec. 5, Mary Ellen Clausen, executive director and founder of Ophelia’s Place, has wanted to open a place like this for a long time. Her vision first took form in 2002 when her two daughters, then 23 and 18, were struggling with eating disorders. Clausen felt there was a need for support services for others as well as their family members and friends.

She opened Ophelia’s Place in 2003, at 407 Tulip St., Liverpool. She hopes the café portion of the facility will help sustain the organization by bringing revenue to the program, which has received little government funding. The café atmosphere, however, provides added benefits.

“So much of the struggle is feeling like you are alone,” said Clausen. “The café was about creating a space where people can gather. I needed that when my kids were struggling, to be in a place where you knew you would be accepted and supported.”

At 4,500 square feet, Ophelia’s Place is a multipurpose space, with the café at front and meeting space at the rear. One room can be reserved and a station near the front offers resources to people who may want to consider coming to the meetings. One person who attended meetings at Ophelia’s Place back in 2004 is café manager Sarah Wood. After her mother heard about the venue at a conference, she took her daughter to the first meeting. 

“Ophelia’s Place gave me a safe place to grow out of my eating disorder,” explained Wood, who, despite a few struggles, has been in recovery since 2005. Although the idea of a café supporting an eating disorder program seems counterintuitive, both Clausen and Wood agreed that the environment has been beneficial to people who attend meetings. Both say having a café “normalizes” the experience for those who come to Ophelia’s Place. One girl told Wood that she felt more comfortable coming into the space because people wouldn’t assume she went there because she struggled with an eating disorder; she could “just come in and be.”

“People walk in the door and say thank you,” said Clausen, adding that community support has been overwhelming. “People in the community want to contribute {to Ophelia’s Place} because they don’t want the place to go anywhere.”

Clausen explained that the café is a perfect fit for people who want to come in and gather because talking at a bar can be difficult and people feel awkward spending long amounts of time at a restaurant. Although Clausen said Starbucks pioneered the whole hang-out-and-have-coffee vibe, she prefers to think of the Café at 407 more like the popular Friends show hangout, Central Perk. 

The Café at 407 attracts a similar crowd. Clausen said that after the café opened, three families, who didn’t know the clients would be there, connected and stayed the whole afternoon, talking in front of the fireplace. “I said, ‘I feel like I’m in your living room,’” said Clausen with a laugh. “They said, ‘We feel like we’re in yours.’”

Both Clausen and Wood said the café already has a steady stream of regulars who searched for a café in Liverpool for awhile. Delicious “White Christmas” coffee, signature chocolate biscotti and apple pie oatmeal keep people coming back as well. “It’s a place where you can feel totally comfortable and totally belong,” said Wood. “Everyone has a place here.”

The Café at 407 is open Tuesdays through Thursdays, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Fridays and Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. For more information, call 451-5544 or visit www.opheliasplace.org.