Editor’s note: Neighbor Spotlight is a monthly feature that aims to let our readers learn more about the people in their communities who are working to make them a better place, who have interesting stories to tell or who the community feels deserve “15 minutes of fame.” If you would like to nominate someone as a Neighbor Spotlight, visit northjournal.com, select the “Post Story” button in the upper right corner, click the “New Article” button and complete the form to publish your nomination. Questions? Email Neighborhood News Network editor Katie Green at kgreen@triblive.com.
In Whitaker, there is a business — and a couple — that feeds the community’s soul in more ways than one. Kamahlai and Maurice Stewart, owners of House of Soul Catering, have now been open for almost three years, and their commitment to good food and charitable work has shone through since the beginning.
Kamahlai Stewart, a native of Washington, D.C., who has lived in and loved Pittsburgh since 1997, found a second life through this catering business.
“I was working for an immigration law firm and my passion was cooking. I was already catering on the side, for baby showers, family gatherings … My husband said that since I wasn’t happy, why don’t you resign and do your catering business?”
They found a brick-and-mortar location in April, renovated it in May, and opened it July 14, 2018. Since then, the business has fed nearly everyone, even the Pittsburgh Steelers. Covid-19 has changed their business substantially — according to Kamahlai Stewart, “before the pandemic…it was 80 percent catering, 20 percent takeout, during the pandemic it turned the other way” — but has also been a “blessing and a curse” by allowing them to reach more customers nearby and even as far away as New York and Ohio.
Kamahlai’s food is the soul of the business, but her husband is an integral part of what makes House of Soul successful in the community.
“Maurice is always the one who is really really big in making sure that we feed people. He’s the face behind the mask, he’s the one that thinks outside the box all the time,” Stewart said. The pair have been married for three years and, together, work to make sure that their community has as many blessings as they can provide.
House of Soul partners with the Learn and Earn program to hire teenagers, providing them with skills and somewhere to go after school and during the summers.
“We’ve had about 12 kids, and right now we still have four youth that started and are still with us,” Stewart said. They even currently have a 16-year-old worker who is so passionate about their work that he will be pursuing a culinary degree. Stewart is very proud of this development, noting, “We want it to be a passion for them. This could be a career for them.”
The Stewarts also do what they do best — provide good food to communities who need it most. Even before opening a brick-and-mortar location for their catering business, they were feeding the homeless and needy members of the community. Now, they make it an integral part of their business. Stewart says that Maurice is often sure to put out food for those who need it on Mondays, when the business is closed. They also donate food and produce and hold clothing drives at their business location.
“We try to do it once a month or quarterly, we have a box up there and we ask our guests to donate shoes, jackets, things of that nature, then we have people who need things come up and pick whatever they want,” Stewart said.
They also focus their philanthropy to specific families around them. Over Christmas, the Stewarts “adopted” a family, as they try to do every year. This year, the family was comprised of a newly-single father and five children whose mother had recently passed.
“It warmed our hearts to be able to give them something; we bought them clothes, shoes, toys, we cooked and we sent them rent to help them out a little bit. It was a really joyful feeling,” Stewart said.
For this couple, giving is part of who they are, even when it might not be so easy to own a small business and give charitably at the same time. Stewart sees it as a vital part of being part of a community she loves.
“To get a blessing, you have to be a blessing. As we give, we know we’ll get blessings. We always try to give to people who are less fortunate. We always want for our brothers and sisters what we want for ourselves. If you need a shirt, if I have an extra shirt I’m going to give it to you.”
In the future, she hopes to give even more, and she is considering a run as a Munhall councilwoman to have a greater impact. She also hopes to expand their business and create a culinary arts program for the community’s youth, as well as recently incarcerated and homeless people, to give the area a brighter future.
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April 01, 2021 at 08:01PM
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Neighbor Spotlight: House of Soul Catering owners give back to community - TribLIVE
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