In Hope so many restaurants have formed communities of their own and Melon Patch on 104 South Elm had certainly done so, serving soul food hot lunches downtown for more than a decade.
We visited after the rush of a Tuesday lunch hour had died down. At around 1:30 p.m. there were still about four tables occupied by happy customers finishing up their plates and drinks. We spoke to several of the workers who do so much to make Melon Patch one of the most frequent stops for Hope residents and visitors alike.
Customers are greeted by a waitress when they sit down, then are given a piece of paper with the menu divided into easy-to-understand categories, Daily Meal Specials, Bread, Vegetables, Drinks, Sandwiches, Burgers, A La Carte, Cookies, Salads, Fried Pies. You use pencils to place checkmarks next to the items you wish to order. The waitress collects the menu, you wait a short time and the meals are brought out.
Such meals they are. I am partial to the Chicken Fried Steak with Pan Fried Potatoes and Turnip Greens. The portions are such that I don’t need to eat again until 8:00 p.m.
The restaurant is a part of ROC Enterprises, which is the company set up to employ the disabled clients of Rainbow of Challenges. It includes a cardboard recycling business as well as Melon Patch restaurant.
Rainbow of Challenges Workforce Coordinator Lori Thompson’s job is to place ROC clients in jobs throughout the community. Having worked at ROC for 19 years, her portfolio now includes The Bridge program, which identifies clients with potential for becoming workplace contributors, educates them for the process of seeking and taking on jobs in offices, stores, restaurants, clinics and farms.
Thompson said her role involves going many places and doing all she can to assist Michelle Witherspoon, the director of ROC Enterprises. “I'll help her if she's absent, if she needs some help in an area, then I will go into that area and help whatever that is. You never know. I might be in that kitchen, and I might be over there,” she said, gesturing toward the restaurant’s counter.”
Five ROC clients work at Melon Patch, in the kitchen and in the dining area. Thompson was asked about the benefits she sees clients gaining from their work. “They have a sense of purpose here and a sense of community here. So it's more like a family, because everybody kind of looks out for everybody else. Also financial benefits. Of course, the girls that work in here learn, they have job skills in customer relations, serving people and helping them. The waitresses get tips, and they keep their tips,” Thompson said.
There are also clients who aid cook Michelle Ellis in the kitchen, Thompson said. “We have one that assists with the fryer, and so he is the one that helps fry the fish and stuff. And then we have two that help with the dishes, but they also help in a crunch. … They will go and do this or that, whatever's needed.”
Ellis was brought on as head cook about sixteen months ago. She also performs an educational function with the clients. “I have really enjoyed it, the environment, the people, and I really get a lot of time with the individuals. I love working with them and around them.”
Her peach cobbler recently won Best Dessert at A Taste of Hope and she takes pride in two of her entrees. “I have a lot of them that really enjoy the cube steak and my roast,” Ellis said.
She is complimentary of the ROC clients on her staff. “They’re helpful. They try and are willing to help me out on anything I need, whatever I ask them to do.”
Part-time cashier Linda Haines, who was working at that station Tuesday, worked at the School of Hope starting in 1985 as an administrative secretary. After working there for five years, she took on a different job, eventually coming back to the same organization when it had become Rainbow of Challenges. She said one thing she likes about working with special needs clients is the warmth of the rapport she has with them. “It's amazing that some of the individuals that I knew then are still here, and they knew me by name,” she said, adding that she gets about 10 or 20 good mornings every time she visits ROC headquarters.
Like Ellis, Haines also works in the kitchen and helps with teaching. “I have certain duties that I just help out in the kitchen. I might peel potatoes, chop them, put rolls out to rise, just anything that Michelle needs me to do. And in the morning time, I will work with the individuals on different goals, their specific goals, all five of them. It could be community and workplace safety goals, it could be money goals, it could be communication goals, those kind of things.”
Waitress Evelyn James had time to stop by and talk. She said she likes what she is paid and the customers she waits on. “They don’t be mean to me,” she said. James grew up in Hope, too, she said. “Me, my brother and my daddy.”
The hours at Melon Patch are 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. They have lunch specials every day. Fridays may be the most popular, since that is catfish day. Come this time of year and see the holiday décor as well.
