What if your next cup of coffee could help someone get access to HIV testing or treatment?
That’s the idea behind LAKAN Café, the social enterprise of LAKAN Network, which reopened its office and café in Angeles City, Pampanga on August 12, 2026, following a fire in January.
The reopening brings back more than a neighborhood café. It also marks another step in LAKAN Network’s effort to build more sustainable ways of supporting HIV prevention, testing, treatment, and community-based health programs in Central Luzon.
LAKAN Network, described by the organization as the region’s biggest HIV services network, provided health services to more than 38,000 people in 2025.
When coffee helps fund healthcare
LAKAN Café was created as a social enterprise, with proceeds helping provide an additional source of funding for the network’s health programs.
The model is particularly relevant for organizations that traditionally rely on grants and donor support, which can be limited by project timelines and funding cycles. Rather than relying solely on these sources, LAKAN is using a business to help sustain part of its work.
“LAKAN Café was built on the belief that a business can create lasting impact,” said Allan Nuñez, executive director of LAKAN Network. “Every purchase helps us reach more communities with life-saving health services while giving people an easy, meaningful way to be part of that work.”
But the café isn’t only about raising money.
LAKAN says the space is also intended to bring health services closer to young people and make HIV-related information, testing, and treatment more accessible by integrating them into a more familiar community setting.
That matters in a country where barriers to HIV services aren’t always about whether healthcare exists. Awareness, stigma, accessibility, and the willingness to seek services can also determine whether someone gets tested or receives treatment.
Making social impact part of everyday life
LAKAN Café is part of a growing conversation around social enterprises in the Philippines: businesses that aren’t simply designed to make money, but also use their operations to address social needs.
For LAKAN, that means turning something as ordinary as eating out or grabbing coffee into another way for people to contribute to community health.
“Social impact becomes more sustainable when communities themselves become part of it,” Nuñez said. “Something as simple as sharing a meal or buying a cup of coffee can help ensure that someone else receives the healthcare information, testing, or treatment they need.”
The café’s reopening also comes at a time when sustainable funding remains a challenge for public health organizations. Donors and partners continue to play an important role in LAKAN’s work, but locally generated revenue can provide another layer of support as community needs change.
For customers, the proposition is fairly simple: come for the coffee, stay for the mission.
LAKAN Café is located along Arayat St., Diamond Village, Brgy. Balibago, Angeles City, Pampanga. It is open 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. from Monday to Friday and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays.
Transparency note: This article was edited with the assistance of artificial intelligence based on information provided in the original press release. The final article was reviewed and edited for accuracy, context, and SubSelfie’s editorial style.
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