From a Jail Visit to a Movement: How SOAR Café & Farms Is Restoring Lives in Jackson
A Faith-Based Nonprofit that Feeds the Soul
Seven years ago, Michelle Cochran had no idea she would one day be leading one of Jackson’s most impactful reentry and restoration programs. In fact, SOAR Café & Farms wasn’t something she planned: it was something she answered.
“I really didn’t have the idea,” Michelle says. “It was a God thing. It just showed up.”
Michelle had spent years coaching and mentoring through personal leadership development and church ministry. Life was good. She had just finished writing a book and was content with where she was. But everything changed when her son began dating a young woman named Danielle. When Michelle later discovered Danielle had been arrested and was facing prison time, her focus shifted, not toward judgment, but compassion.
“I had no idea what this was going to look like,” Michelle remembers. “But I told her, if you’ll have me, I just want to walk with you through this.”
Jail Visits and Bible Study
So she did. Michelle began visiting Danielle every week, supporting her through court dates and, eventually, a three-and-a-half-year prison sentence. Along the way, a simple Bible study offer turned into something much bigger. After a flurry of coincidences, Facebook reminders, serendipitous song lyrics and spiritual nudges, Michelle felt called to start something more.
Inspired by a nonprofit in Nashville that helps women survivors of trafficking, addiction and prostitution, Michelle heard God whisper a name: “You’ll call it SOAR, because it will give them wings.”
And it has.
SOAR Café & Farms now operates as a community-rooted nonprofit with a two-part mission: restoration and reintegration. It began with a residential home, a safe space for women to heal after incarceration or trauma. That was just the beginning. Michelle knew that healing needed to be followed by purpose, empowerment and employment.
That’s where SOAR Café came in.
Feeding the Community: SOAR Café
When longtime local eatery Anna’s Coffee Shop went up for sale, Michelle and her board saw an opportunity. With support from community partners, SOAR secured the building. This was all the more confirmation for Michelle that this was the mission she was meant to fulfill. Standing in the doorway of the newly secured building, she recalls hearing a voice:
“Done and done.”
SOAR Café officially opened as a vibrant, welcoming space for community to come and enjoy true purpose. The café employs women in transition, offering them a supportive, mentoring environment to rebuild their lives with dignity, structure and community. Each sandwich served and latte poured is another step forward for someone on the path to independence.
But SOAR is more than just a café. It’s a movement.
Empowering, Encouraging, and Employing
“We go into the county jail every Wednesday,” Michelle says. “We mentor at the women’s correctional facility. We host community support groups every Monday night. We meet women at their lowest and walk with them toward something higher.”
It’s working. One woman met SOAR mentors during a jail session. She later joined the community group, gave birth to a child with nowhere to go and was taken in by another mentor. Today, she works at the café.
“It started with one woman,” Michelle reflects. “And because of that, her children’s lives are different. Her family is different. You heal one woman, and you start healing generations.”
What makes SOAR unique is not just the model — it’s the heart behind it. There’s no cookie-cutter plan or corporate blueprint. The “business plan,” Michelle says, is faith. Faith in transformation. Faith in second chances. Faith in community.
And Jackson has shown up.
Soaring with Jackson County
“Our community is incredible,” she says. “Churches, businesses, individuals — they’ve come around us in so many ways. They eat here, pray for us, support us, encourage us. That’s what makes this work possible.”
Michelle sees SOAR as part of a bigger vision for the city she loves.
“Jackson is a shining city on a hill,” she says. “There’s so much potential, so many good people. I’m excited to see how that unfolds.”
To learn more about SOAR Café & Farms or support their mission, visit soarcafeandfarms.com