COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Zora’s House, a Columbus nonprofit group dedicated to furthering community resources for women of color, announced Tuesday it’s closing its cafe and reducing staff amid shifting funding priorities and a changing political climate.
Purple Door Cafe, located at the organization’s headquarters at 1393 N. Fourth St. in Weinland Park, will welcome customers for the last time on Friday, Zora’s House shared on social media. The post said the closure decision, which came “after deep financial reflection and a lot of heart work,” is coupled with the nonprofit’s first staff reduction in its history. Watch a previous NBC4 report on Zora’s House in the video player above.
“Like so many nonprofits, we’re feeling the squeeze — rising costs, shrinking dollars, and shifting funding priorities. For organizations like ours, led by women of color doing unapologetic equity work, that squeeze comes with even greater pressure,” the post said. “The political climate has changed. In a short time, commitments to racial equity have moved from being celebrated as signs of community progress to being viewed by some funders and partners as a risky investment.”
“But let us be clear: this is not a retreat. This is a recalibration,” the post continued. “When we opened our new home, we imagined a building filled with connection — and a team growing and thriving within it. That vision hasn’t changed. We’re simply shifting our shape to protect the work we love.”
The organization, boasted as “a space and movement where women of color can gather, dream, and lead,” opened the current Purple Door Cafe in 2023, when the nonprofit relocated from a 2,000-square-foot base on Summit Street to the 10,000-square-foot headquarters it built on North Fourth Street. In addition to the cafe, the building is home to co-working spaces, offices, conference rooms, a library and bedroom suites for overnight stays.
LC Johnson, CEO of Zora’s House, founded the organization in 2018 after she moved to Columbus and struggled to find a community of other Black women in central Ohio. Previously working at a co-working space in North Carolina inspired her to bring the concept to Columbus. The nonprofit was named after Zora Neale Hurston, an author, activist, and Howard University graduate whose work centered on the complexity of Black culture.
“It’s always been really important to me to have other Black women and women of color in my life,” Johnson told NBC4 in 2023. “I was really looking for a space where I could get an opportunity to connect with other women of color who would understand certain aspects of my journey and identity.”
Until Friday’s closure, the Purple Door Cafe is open 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. daily. In the social media post, Zora’s House urged its “community to stand with us by: renewing our deepening your financial support; using your influence to advocate for equity-centered work; speaking confidence and encouragement into our leadership.”
“Zora’s House is part of a long lineage of women of color who bend, adapt, and reimagine the work to meet the moment,” the post said. “The form may shift, but the mission never stops.”
