After a dozen adventurous, innovative years, Chris Hewitt is stepping aside as director of the Hudson Valley Current—a shift that he believes will result in taking the organization to the next level.
Current if I could buy food with it,’” Hewitt says, “even though we had three farms, two restaurants, and a grocery store signed up. So I thought, what if I made a food establishment that’s always available and always says yes?”
The result—Tilda’s Kitchen and Market, offering community inspired global cuisine on Broadway in the heart of Midtown Kingston—has been winning five-star reviews for delicious food and a warm welcome ever since it began, offering eat-in, takeout and catering options with food that’s 90% locally sourced. Free soup is expertly crafted from donated veggies and served every day; there are pay-it-forward cards, monthly Open Table days with free breakfast and lunch, and popular Friday night dance parties with live music.
The name Tilda’s is actually inspired by the tilde symbol, an accent mark used in the Spanish language. “The tilde (~) is actually our symbol for one Current, but we spell it with an A because it feels like there’s a grandma out there somewhere and people get curious,” says Hewitt. “Then when people say ‘Who’s Tilda?’ we whip out the Current cash—we always have it on hand because we’re the exchange center—and show them a beautiful single with a bumblebee on it, and give them one as a marketing tool. If we just called it the Current Cafe, people wouldn’t ask so many questions.”
The colorful cash, featuring nature-inspired art, was first issued in 2020 after a two-year design process. “It was digital-only for the first six years, which made it hard to use for people without phones,” says Hewitt. “Then, during the pandemic, behavior patterns changed rapidly and we wanted more Currents to get out into the community.”
Tilda’s was actually launched in April of 2020, near the very beginning of the global pandemic, and both restaurant and currency became a vital part of the community’s response. “We had hot food that we were catering and delivering—we got a grant that helped us deliver to three counties,” says Hewitt. “And the Current kicked in and did what it was intended to do—help stabilize the local economy. We saw a triple increase in the flow of Currents for that six months. That’s exactly how local currencies, barter exchanges and mutual aid networks are supposed to function in times of fiscal stress.”
It’s been an exciting twelve years. “I’ve been invited to speak about the Current all over the world, because we’ve successfully created this hybrid model in which for-profit engines—a food establishment, and a publication—push and pull Currents to and from the members every single week. Our Pollinator program, which was a guaranteed income program, also got Currents out into the community and got people talking.”
The search process for a new director, currently in its second round of interviews, has Hewitt excited all over again. “I’m psyched to see what this new director can make happen, because this has grown way beyond its origins,” he says. “One thing most of the interviewees have talked about is, let’s go big. Let’s appeal to the chambers of commerce, and let’s work with larger businesses, so that the Current flows in an ever more significant way and breaks out beyond our home on Broadway. We see the writing on the wall about what the economy is doing, and the ways that mega-rich people can co-opt the whole system of currency if they want. That won’t happen to Currents.”
Starting in April, Tilda’s will be home base for Kingston’s newest form of transportation: rickshaws drawn by motor-assisted bicycles, purchased with grant funding and able to carry three or four passengers at a time between key Midtown locations from the YMCA to Hannaford’s at the Plaza. “We’re also going to be delivering Tilda’s food, and possibly food from other Midtown restaurants too,” says Hewitt. “It’s a partnership with Frank Waters and MyKingstonKids, encouraging young entrepreneurs to maintain the vehicles and earn some Currents.”
Hewitt is stepping aside as director, but his talents as an innovator will stay firmly focused on the community. “As I’ve grown the Current, it’s become clear to me that I have a talent for these hybrid creations—for building for-profit models that can then benefit the nonprofit. I’m good at seeing the ways that things can work together. My main focus this spring will be finding sponsors for the rickshaws. I’m leaving the new director with two revenue models, the restaurant and the publication, that they can continue to run. I keep building for-profit models that I don’t own, and I’m going to continue to use my social entrepreneurship skills to build more businesses with young people and partners, and to teach, to share these models and say, ‘Look at this new world that’s possible!’ What we’re doing is what Buckminster Fuller talked about. We’re building a new system that makes the old one obsolete, one that’s based on regenerative economics. We’re building Main Streets to be walkable and human centered, with an economy that nourishes that.”