WAMC New York News
(2010-01-03)
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This new nonprofit coffee shop serves up opportunities to teenagers and young adults who had been living on Seattle's streets.
Gary Davis photo.
The opening of a new coffee shop is hardly news. But in Seattle's Belltown neighborhood, one new shop is using coffee's popularity to help young people change their lives.
Eighteen-year old Stephanie is behind the counter working the steamer at Street Bean Espresso on this recent morning.
"I hated steaming milk because I always seemed to manage to burn myself. People come in now and request me to steam their milk for them."
Stephanie's the first to tell you she's not used to the role of employee it's all brand new.
"Well this is my first job. My first pay check I framed because it was my first legal income. I really cried."
At the age of 13, she ran away from her Seattle home. Over the years she had numerous run-ins with the law. Now, Stephanie has a stable job, and an emerging sense of self.
"I had to let go of a lot of the insecurities, that I'm worthless, I'll never be anything. Obviously I'm doing something. I was proud of myself for the first time in a very long time."
She's one of five former street kids employed at Street Bean. The shop is a venture of New Horizons Ministries, one of a handful of nonprofits working with directly with kids surviving on Seattle's streets. That's where Linda Ruthruff first met them, as a social worker.
"Each kid needs a community of people to stand by them, and that requires a lot of different people."
New Horizons had never been in the coffee business before. But when a retailer across the street from their office was looking to sublease, the agency grabbed the opportunity to expand its outreach to troubled kids. Ruthruff took on the job of turning the idea into reality and manages the caf at Third Avenue and Cedar Street. She hired Stephanie and the other workers with an attractive premise: if you show up and are responsible, we'll guarantee you two years of employment, training and good job references.
"One of the obstacles our young people have is that they don't have a work history. And because of their past, if employers do a background check, that eliminates them from that job."
Profits support the cafe's operating costs and the five employees who staff it full-time on weekdays. Knowing she'll have steady work for awhile has given Stephanie the stability to pursue her G.E.D. at Shoreline Community College.
"And after two years, I really honestly hope I'll be a brand new woman, because I have people who support me every day I come to my job. Stephanie is not going to be perfect today, but she's on her way to becoming a better person."
She expects to have completed her G.E.D. by June. Then Stephanie says she wants a law degree. Gary Davis, KPLU News, in Seattle's Belltown neighborhood.
Street Bean Espresso is located at 2702 3rd Avenue, near the corner of Cedar Street, in Seattle's Belltown.
New Horizons Ministries website
© Copyright 2012, KPLU
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