Alison Bologna Q&A
Alison Bologna’s passion for community extends far beyond her career as a journalist at Providence’s NBC affiliate, WJAR-TV. She is also the founder of Shri Yoga studio in Pawtucket, where the core values of “support, honor, respect, and inspire” reflect her own lifestyle and commitment to serving others.
“We’re not just an outreach program, but outreach always comes first.”
Bologna recently partnered with LIFE Inc., a Rhode Island-based social service agency, to create a café that provides jobs for people with intellectual and physical disabilities. Located in the garage of the building that also houses her yoga studio, she is both landlord and support system. Bologna said she hopes residents and customers will connect through the shared space, which also includes affordable housing units, a food pantry, and an art studio.
Q: How did this idea go from garage to café?
Bologna: I couldn’t, in good faith, have this beautiful [Shri] building open and then this ugly garage in the parking lot. I reached out to LIFE Inc., whom I’ve been working with for over a decade. We built out the box, and then Liz Wiedenhofer — she’s the executive director of LIFE — reached out to the Fogarty Foundation, which gave them a grant to get all the appliances. It took courage, but once more people start living in [this neighborhood], they’ll be busier.
What did you want the café to look like?
I knew I wanted it to feel like it was a garage, and it still is a garage. The application list submitted was “garage café.” It’s called the LIFE Cafe because the LIFE agency is running it. I wanted them to get due credit.
Tell me about your role in this business.
I’m technically the landlord, but it’s leased out to LIFE. My priority was getting this [Shri] building revitalized. Segue Institute for Learning approached me about putting the food pantry in — done. They run the food pantry, Flying Shuttles, they run the art studio. But we’re very much partners because we all do yoga together. The café came at the end, that was the extra.
Where do you draw inspiration?
My sister. I am the oldest of three girls, and my youngest sister, Jackie, does not talk. She’s autistic, and she has a disease called Tuberous sclerosis. I’ve grown up around folks like my sister. I always wanted to collaborate in some way outside of my professional journalism job. And it’s fun to be able to do it here, on my terms. I developed the curriculum based upon my interactions with Jackie.
How does your workforce training differ from other programs?
It’s creating a space for people to socialize. You hear this a lot in the special needs community; parents get them through school and then they don’t know where to go. I know that there’s dozens of agencies all across the state that do day programs, group homes, and shared living arrangements, but not every parent knows. This is an active way to start bringing people into [our] community, by coming to classes and then workforce training here [at LIFE Cafe].
What are your future goals for the program?
We have an 80-hour yoga teacher training that’s outreach-specific. This year we’re expanding it to not just offer it to adaptive students, who then become paid adaptive teachers, but we’re looking to partner with Segue, which is the school that runs the food pantry, to train a group of folks from their school. They’ll be sponsored, so it’s free to the school and to them. We can then license the curriculum to them, because even with 40-plus teachers, we don’t have enough. I could have 2,000 teachers, and it still technically won’t be enough without burning people out.
What is a typical day like for you balancing WJAR and Shri?
I go to work at 4 in the morning. I’m on the air from 4 to 7, and I do cut-ins at the “Today” show. And then I come here, and I just switch roles. I might be teaching a class. I’m still giving tours, writing grants, coaching teachers, working with my admin team. Sometimes I just sit with my office door open for about three minutes, and then I’m pulled out into the lobby, into the studio, chatting with people. I think it’s important that after I built this I’m still very much here and engaged. That’s why I do it still, I get a lot of joy out of it.
Are you planning to expand the cafe?
We have an agreement with LIFE that we could rent [the cafe] back from them a couple of times a year and do seasonal, secret supper clubs. That’s on our radar. We also have a couple of groups that get here early before their scheduled yoga class. [We are] going to start running healing arts programs to get them centered and calm to accommodate their transportation challenges. We’ve never really been open to the general public before, but we just started peppering the schedule with more classes because people will see the space and feel safe in this neighborhood. In the meantime, come get a coffee from LIFE Cafe and economically support them.
This article was published in The Boston Globe on January 20 2025. https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/01/20/metro/rhode-island-jobs-food-pantry-art-yoga/
