Community Impact: Comeback Cafe

How do we become whole again? What is the opposite of addiction? How do we find our way and push forward? At the Comeback Cafe, they believe the answer to all of those questions is connection.

The Comeback Cafe is one of the most recent additions to White County United Way and serves as a center for individuals to feel safe, relaxed, and welcomed regardless of the situations they are “coming back” from. The Comeback Cafe believes that anyone and everyone is always recovering from something in their life, whether that be grief, a surgery, struggles in mental health, an addiction, or even just a bad day at work. The human mind is delicate and the Comeback Cafe wants to serve those who are reeling from the complexities of human life.

The Comeback Cafe originated from the United Way group: the United Council on Opioids back in 2019. The coalition was initially formed to combat the rising issue of substance abuse in White County, looking to offer different treatments, recovery services, and prevention. It wasn’t until 2021 when Kiera Lewellyn, director of the Comeback Cafe, joined the UCO and began efforts towards a solution on a more daily basis. They began doing extensive research from other communities when she stumbled upon a recovery cafe in Lafayette. She brought the idea back and got to work. In an interview with the Community Foundation of White County, Lewellyn said “Our community needed something like this. We don’t have a lot and it’s really accessible to individuals.”

In 2024, the UCO began posting monthly cafes to recognize community buy-in. They would meet once a month, once in the morning and once at night. During this time, they recognized that there was a need for a cafe in White County and many individuals who really supported the idea. They created the Comeback Cafe as a result of this growing enthusiasm and applied for it to become an official recovery cafe.

Since 2024 when they applied, they had been slowly creating more opportunities to expand what the Comeback Cafe could really accomplish. In early 2025, they added Wednesdays to their schedule and now they meet three times a week. Their services range from a variety of activities from simple rest and relaxation to channeling themselves through art in watercolor painting. 

At the cafe, members have the ability to meet on Tuesdays for a meal and recovery circles (all members commit to a circle that they must attend once a week to help better each other in their own personal journeys). They also hold open mic nights where families are allowed to visit members of the cafe. The open mic nights serve as an opportunity for members to grow their bonds with the special people in their lives even stronger in an environment where they feel safe. They hold annual events for Overdose Awareness day to honor those we’ve lost to overdose, which does not strictly apply to White County. The Comeback Cafe has a tree in which members may add an individual close to them to it, through the vessel of a feather. The hope is that, someday, we won’t have to add any more feathers to the tree.

The cafe reaches many individuals all throughout the county in various ways. Cafe member Jennifer Haskins says, “The cafe is not just about our addictions… We’re there for each other.” Another cafe member, Jim Dewitt, says “You’re able to come here to talk about [your struggles] and you have support… It’s a great alternative as opposed to just sitting in a jail cell [as a part of the work release program].” Member Peter Kauffman says “The facilitators are amazing. They’re really open minded, eager to befriend, and help in any way that they can. It’s the reason I keep coming back.”

The Comeback Cafe has come a long way, but cooperation from the community was vital in what we see of the cafe now. The Comeback Cafe received funding from the Community Foundation of White County, the National Recovery Network, as well as other organizations and benefactors.

The Comeback Cafe applied for a Mental Wellness grant during their 2025 cycle, providing multiple avenues of exploration for the cafe. Primarily, the funds they were awarded from the Community Foundation of White County were put towards relandscaping the courtyard as an extension of the cafe. Your Community Foundation, due to the awarded Mental Wellness grant, also served as a matching grant for the Recovery Cafe Network to unlock funds for the Comeback Cafe. Because the Community Foundation showed community buy-in to the cause, the Recovery Cafe Network was able to match the funds and offer more money to help build the cafe itself. 

As of July, 2026, the Comeback Cafe was accepted to be a member of the Recovery Cafe Network and is recognized, nationally, as an official recovery cafe. They support members of the community through services at the cafe, collaborating with the United Way’s community navigator, and providing mental, physical, and social reassurance that everything will be okay. Many individuals struggle with taking the first step and reaching out, so to that, Director Kiera Lewellyn says: “You matter, you are loved, and we are here when you’re ready.”