HEY
NEIGHBOR!
Café Ora is a neighborhood third place rooted in South St. Pete, a space where neighbors gather, community grows, and programs meet the real needs of the people who live here.
OUR MISSION
More than coffee.
A home for the neighborhood.
Café Ora is a neighborhood third space rooted in South St. Petersburg, a place where great coffee, community programs, and real belonging share the same space. We exist to build capacity: housing a free pantry, tutoring, outreach, cowork, and a stage for the culture that's always lived here.
A true third space is more than a coffee shop. It's where the neighborhood comes alive between home and work. We're activating a corridor, deepening roots, and proving that community-first business can be the most powerful kind.
COFFEE PARTNER
908
MLK Jr. St. S. Café Ora is the community coffee house of The Looking Glass Initiative, a community-guided revitalization of the 900 and 1000 blocks of South St. Pete.
FALL
Target opening date. Build-out begins Summer 2026. The neighborhood is ready and so are we.
EPICENTER
Vibes. Conversations. Music. Shows. Art. Cowork. Free pantry through Healthy St. Pete. Tutoring. Outreach. Community facility use. This block has always had everything, and we're just showing up for it
Built for Possibility
Café Ora isn't just opening a coffee shop. It's reclaiming a corner, restoring dignity, and proving that community-first business works. Join us before the doors open.
Community
Focused.
Community
Impact.
At Cafe Ora, we intend to not just serve great coffee but use coffee as a means for gathering, change, impact, and more. Our heart beats to help do our part to meet the needs of the surrounding communities. This will include helping to launch a community pantry, pack and donate meals for the hungry, help provide healthy breakfasts for students heading to school, hiring from within the neighborhoods, and developing and launch a program to help those reentering the workforce after time served for non-violent offenses.
"South St. Pete has never lacked vision. It's lacked investment. Café Ora is our way of putting something real on this block: a place that sees the people who've always been here and builds around them."
- Rev. Meiko Seymour, Lead pioneer at Uncommon City
Our Team
Simone Seymour
Simone's work spans hospitality design, finance, and community curation, with years of crafting spaces that feel kept, alive, and worth returning to. She brings that same standard to every corner of Ora.
Founder
FounderMeiko Seymour
20+ years of experience spanning leadership, ministry, finance, and community development. Meiko brings strategic depth and deep local roots to Ora, operating part-time while building toward full-time ownership.
Strategic PartnerLook Alive Coffee
Roasting partner, equipment installer, barista trainer, and ongoing consultant. Look Alive reduces risk and accelerates excellence from day one.
Community OwnersUNCOMMON CITY
A faith community of member owners who will serve at Cafe Ora in a variety of roles from Baristas to community advocates. As a collective, they have also invested in the coffee space.
Uses of Funds
RAISING $350K
We realize that to bring something beautiful to the south end of St. Petersburg we will need capital. That’s where you come in. Here is where your donations will go.
Build-out (56%) covers demolition, framing, plumbing, electrical, HVAC, and finishes. Equipment (21%) includes the La Marzocco espresso system, grinders, brewers, refrigeration, and furniture.
Café Ora is more than a coffee shop. It is a neighborhood institution in the making, a gathering place for South St. Pete where good coffee, good people, and real community get to coexist. We are building something that belongs to this block, and we want the people who believe in it to be part of the story from the very beginning. Every dollar you give goes directly toward opening our doors at 908 Dr. MLK Jr. Street South, and because Café Ora is a justice project of Uncommon City, a registered 501(c)(3), all donations are tax-deductible.