Charleszetta “Mother” Waddles was no stranger to poverty. Her childhood wasn’t easy – she had to work to support her entire family at only thirteen! But her upbringing helped guide her life’s work.
She became a pioneer in the fight against poverty – in the most genius way.
In 1950, Waddles opened the Helping Hands restaurant on the edge of Detroit’s Skid Row, with a mission to feed ALL of her people. For just 35 cents, she served home-cooked meals to everyone!
Some diners covered meal costs with the restaurant’s pay-what-you-can system for others who couldn’t afford it. It was a hit!
The Helping Hands restaurant would serve about three hundred people on any given day, and even during the violent, chaotic 1967 Detroit uprisings, she was still on the ground feeding the people!
But Waddles wanted even more, so she self-published two cookbooks – a mix of recipes and poetry – to fundraise for even more community services.
Waddles’ work went beyond food. After she built the food program into a true community-led effort run by over 200 volunteers, she opened a church offering job training and placement, health services, tutoring, and legal services.
Her legacy teaches us something very important.
Like Mother Waddles, we must all take up the struggle for Black liberation and commit to using whatever our skills and talents are for the betterment of our people!