about Kind.
KIND is located within the heart of Morningside.
Morningside used to be an urban concrete jungle. It was primarily an industrial area, making it a very grey place to be. Literally. A place of concrete and iron and a place with little social connection or belonging. While Morningside has come a long way in the last few years, we would love to see it become even more green.
KIND, a mostly vegan café in Auckland, is the newest neighbourhood venture which aims to make the neighbourhood a better place to live, work and socialise. KIND aims to do its bit to make sure that this growing community is a healthy one,
in every sense of the word. We want to see grey turn to green. We want to share healthy living practices, to plant and maintain more trees, to encourage new and established locals to be healthy, active, and connected.
While KIND has a number of owners, the majority of KIND is owned by the Crave Collective (KIND is Crave’s little sister). The Crave Collective exist to make Morningside a better place to live and part of that is to make the neighbourhood greener and healthier. KIND exists to move this forward. This social impact is the reason KIND exists.
Morningside used to be an urban concrete jungle. It was primarily an industrial area, making it a very grey place to be. Literally. A place of concrete and iron and a place with little social connection or belonging. While Morningside has come a long way in the last few years, we would love to see it become even more green.
KIND is the newest neighbourhood venture which aims to make the neighbourhood a better place to live, work and socialise. KIND aims to do its bit to make sure that this growing community is a healthy one, in every sense of the word. We want to see grey turn to green. We want to share healthy living practices, to plant and maintain more trees, to encourage new and established locals to be healthy, active, and connected.
While KIND has a number of owners, the majority of KIND is owned by the Crave Collective (KIND is Crave’s little sister). The Crave Collective exist to make Morningside a better place to live and part of that is to make the neighbourhood greener and healthier. KIND exists to move this forward. This social impact is the reason KIND exists.
Meet the team
Cathie Cottle
Teaching was Cathie’s first passion. She adores having the power to truly affect others’ development and change. This inherent want to do better is what first devoted her to protecting the environment and being kind to the earth. This makes her a pretty ideal person for the manager of KIND.
Together with her husband Nigel, Cathie moved to Morningside more than 15 years ago with an eye to contribute to the neighbourhood. Cathie did so whilst working as a primary school teacher, and she and Nigel established the social enterprise that is Crave with the help of eight others.
Cathie’s 22 years of working as a primary school teacher came to an end a few years ago when she established the next chapter of hood-better social enterprises, KIND Cafe, with backing from the Crave collective, which has since expanded to include an 18-person crew.
KIND has placed greater emphasis on sustainability. It was created to encourage kindness towards the earth, towards others, and towards oneself. So it seems Cathie’s goal of improving society through education hasn’t really changed much.
Cathie is thrilled to support others as they grow in a different setting in her capacity as manager of KIND. Every part of the KIND enterprise has been influenced by the principle of treating people, yourself, and the environment with kindness. Cathie has helped create a space that honours this – on visiting, you’ll immediately get the vibe.
KIND purposefully overflows with plants to give a feeling that you’re actually outside (after all, food is grown outside). With an 80% plant-based diet, the menu was created with sustainability in mind. The goal is to encourage others to eat real food and be informed about its origin.
Cathie believes the KIND mission is on track after all the effort put in to get to this part of the journey. She has big plans for workshops and incentives that will inspire kindness in others and make Morningside a greener, healthier, more sustainable neighbourhood. The journey has just begun.