Paula Haines's Perfect Bite | How Freedom a la Cart Empowers Survivors Through Food and Workforce Development

In this episode of The Perfect Bite, host Sarah Perkins sits down with Paula Haines, CEO of Freedom a la Cart, a Columbus-based café, catering business, and nonprofit that helps survivors of human trafficking rebuild their lives through food and workforce development.Paula shares how her journey from entrepreneurship and marketing led her to lead an organization that blends purpose and business through a unique social enterprise model. Freedom a la Cart offers survivors a pathway to employment, housing, and long-term stability — showing how food can be a catalyst for both healing and empowerment.They discuss how the organization was built, the challenges of combining a business with a mission, and the incredible outcomes of their work, including a 7-to-1 social return on investment validated by Stanford Business School researchers.In this episode, you’ll learn:How food became the foundation for healing and rebuilding livesThe power of pairing entrepreneurship with social impactThe impact of Freedom a la Cart’s workforce and housing programsHow the organization built a sustainable model for long-term successThe story behind Eat Up Columbus, their signature fundraising eventPaula’s lessons in leadership, compassion, and resilienceTo learn more about Freedom a la Cart, head to www.freedomalacart.org. You can visit Freedom’s cafe in Columbus at 123 E. Spring St. You can follow Freedom a la Cart on Instagram @freedomalacart. Want to watch the entire episode? Head here to our YouTube! Make sure to subscribe, rate and review The Perfect Bite anywhere you listen to podcasts. You can follow us on social media @perfectbitepod and visit our site www.theperfectbitepod.com.