After Widespread Community Support, Woodstock Cafe Remains Open

Last week, the Quest published an article stating that the Deaf-owned Woodstock Cafe at 4103 SE Woodstock Blvd was set to close its doors after Sunday, March 8, after facing pressure from its parent nonprofit, CymaSpace, in a decision that, according to Woodstock Cafe manager Andre Grey, was made with “limited input.” While the article went to print on the night of Wednesday, March 4, the news quickly changed. On Thursday, March 5, the Woodstock Cafe’s Instagram account, @woodstockcafepdx, posted that “the Board Chair and Board of Directors are no longer pursuing closure of Woodstock Cafe,” noting that “after a marathon of conversations, reflection, and reading letters from our community, it became clear that this was not the path meant for us.” They mentioned that they “also want to honor the many people who have poured years of care, labor, and love into our parent organization CymaSpace” and asked “for privacy and patience as we move through this moment together” out of respect.

Grey shared the following statement with the Quest on the cafe’s decision to stay open:

“Hi everyone,

Thank you for the love, the letters, the late night DMs, the hugs at the counter, and the way you showed up when it looked like our doors might close. This cafe has never been about competing for brand or siphoning business from other shops. From day one, our purpose has been to show why Deaf‑centered, ASL‑forward spaces are not a novelty; they are a necessity in Portland and in every city that claims to care about access and equity. We are proud of what we are building here, and we’re even more proud that you refused to let it be taken away.

Over the last few weeks, we heard from students who said learning ASL in this space felt like entering a whole new world of understanding and being understood. We heard from neighbors who said this is the only place in the city where they feel truly comfortable and safe in their language. We heard from folks who struggle with spoken communication who told us this isn’t just a cute theme cafe, it’s the one room where they don’t have to apologize for how they communicate, or explain why they communicate differently. That is why we stayed.

We also heard from people who called this cafe their ‘third place’ in a city that doesn’t always make room for Deaf lives. People came in crying when they heard we might close, asking where they would go next, not just for coffee, but for community. We heard from CODAs, ASL students, Deaf and HoH community members who said that in a city with no major Deaf establishment, this cafe had become a home away from home. When you hear that over and over, closing stops feeling like a business decision and starts feeling like erasing a vital part of the city’s Deaf future. We couldn’t do that. Not quietly. Not at all.

Our parent nonprofit, CymaSpace, is also going through a major shift. Like so many nonprofits right now, they are being squeezed by shrinking federal and foundation funding. The push to close the cafe did not come from the entire board, but from a place of fear in the face of a funding gap and real operational pressures. That pressure almost led to a drastic decision. In response, CymaSpace is changing leadership and deepening board engagement so the organization can be more clear, more accountable, and more effective. We want to be transparent: they need support too, and part of staying open means working together to stabilize both the cafe and the nonprofit behind it.”

Woodstock Cafe can be visited from 7am to 9pm on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, 7am to 8pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and 8am to 8pm on Saturdays and Sundays. To learn more about this cafe, you can follow their Instagram (@woodstockcafepdx), check out their website (woodstock.cafe), or read our article about its opening, our article about its mission to raise funds for SNAP recipients along with Heretic Coffee Co., or our Double Shot review. They host weekly events, such as ASL Game Night Thursdays from 4:30pm-8:30pm, Sign Squad Tuesdays from 6:30pm to 8:30pm, and they’re also hosting a trivia night on Thursday, April 2 from 5 to 9pm.