AURORA, Colo. — Last week, Denver7 | Your Voice headed down the road to our neighbors in Aurora to hear directly from the community about what they love about their city and the challenges they see. We heard that residents feel that media outlets cover too much bad news out of Aurora, so this week, we wanted to bring you one of the many uplifting stories from the city.
We'd like to introduce you to Change Please Coffee, a local coffee shop that is doing good in the community by helping people get back on their feet.
What is Denver7 | Your Voice? Read about the new project here.
Change Please Coffee, a social enterprise and nonprofit, is teaching Coloradans who are at risk of becoming homeless hospitality job skills to help them secure full-time jobs.
“We are a commercial coffee company," explained Taylor Mack, Change Please Coffee’s Denver regional café and program manager. "We do anything any other coffee company [would do]. We do roast our own beans, run cafes, do wholesale, all that kind of stuff, but 100% of our proceeds go back to funding our program, which is a barista training and onward employment coaching program for people experiencing or at risk of experiencing homelessness,”
Founded in 2015 in London, Mack said Change Please Coffee operates as a global nonprofit with locations in Charlotte, New York, and now Aurora on the CU Anschutz campus.
“One of the main things that can help people move out of homelessness is just a good job," he said. "We believe that coffee, and specifically the hospitality industry, is a really good on-ramp for people to land into a career with lots of good opportunities, upward mobility. And they don't need a ton of preexisting skills to land a job in the hospitality industry."
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Mack said participants are brought to the program through referral partners, which include Mile High Behavioral Healthcare, Hazelbrook Sober Living, the Colorado Department of Corrections, and the Denver Housing Authority.
“They refer people who are interested in coffee or the hospitality industry and need help starting their career," Mack said. "So, we do some orientation. We do a week of barista training — about 20 hours. The week after that, we do our immersive workplace experience or shadow shifts. So, we partner with businesses around Denver who host our trainees for shifts to get a feel for what a career in hospitality could look like.”
Participants also work shifts at Change Please Coffee and Rebel Bread Company, which provides pastries to the café.
“Then we roll into what we call onward employment. So, that's really resume writing, interview skills, starting to apply for jobs with our different partners," Mack said. "We'll start doing referrals, different things like that. That's about three weeks intensively, but we'll provide support up to six months. The goal is to get their resume, get them out there, get them full-time hospitality employment.”
LEARN MORE: See all of Denver7's news out of Aurora here
Charmaine Torres, a participant in the program, called Change Please Coffee "the best opportunity for myself." The past year was far from the warm and comforting environment of a coffee shop for her.
“I was actually homeless for a little bit,” Torres said. “I did have an addiction... and I got into sober living through HazelBrook. I've been in sober living for about four months, loving it.”
Torres said she feels like she’s getting her life back on track.
“My kids are so proud of me. My family is proud of me," she said. "My relationship with them has grown so much more stronger."
Smiling, she said she is looking forward to her new career in the hospitality industry.
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