Carolina Strong: Monroe tea house serves up community impact around the world

MONROE, N.C. — A Monroe tea house is doing more than just serving scones and filling up cups — it’s serving our community and supporting women across the globe.

Twelve years ago, Rhonda Griffin, executive director of A Cause for Tea, realized she could serve her community through serving tea.

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“I just felt like we could make a bigger impact on our community and the women and children that we were supporting by being open daily,” Griffin told Channel 9’s Erika Jackson.

In 2022, Griffin swapped quarterly fundraising events for a year-round tea house. It’s open five days a week in a historic home in Monroe.

Some of her employees are part of the addiction recovery ministry House of Pearls.

One employee, Tabitha Hinson, started in the “Tealight” workplace transition program and is now a Cause for Tea’s head chef.

“House of Pearls helped me recover from my addiction, but A Cause for Tea is what truly gave me my life back,” Hinson said.

Griffin says the program is full of success stories.

The tea house also supports the Help Pregnancy Center by throwing baby showers for women experiencing an unplanned pregnancy.

A Cause for Tea’s work goes beyond U.S. borders.

This year, Hinson said they’ve used proceeds to build three houses in Nicaragua. The house sponsors 14 women there by selling their hand-sewn items in the gift shop.

“Those products create income for the ladies, where they can support their families, and that provides food, water, shelter and education for their families,” Griffin said.

She hopes each cup will make you feel warm — in more ways than one.

“There’s a heart behind A Cause for Tea. It’s more than a business,” she said. “It’s a tea house that makes a huge impact on our community as well as our partners.”

Volunteers with A Cause for Tea are taking their next mission trip to Nicaragua in October. For more details visit the tea house website.

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