This past December, a new coffee shop opened its doors just down the street from the Dallas Arboretum. But more than coffee and pastries, Well Grounded Coffee Community is dedicated to its baristas first. Michael and Natalie Huscheck are the co-founders of Well Grounded, and their partnership with Exodus Ministries is making it possible for women who have experienced incarceration to get a job at the new coffee shop, and continue to receive job training and holistic development. Our interview with Natalie highlights the journey to opening their nonprofit, and how the community can get involved.
Well Grounded Coffee Community opened its doors just a month ago. Can you tell us the story of how you decided to open a coffee shop that partners with Exodus Ministries to provide job training?
We had been interested and studying the possibilities of influencing someone’s life toward transformation, when we stumbled on an amazing place in San Francisco called The Delancey Street Foundation. They have been doing social transformation with formerly incarcerated adults for almost 50 years through work and education. We visited a couple times and learned from the residents there. Since then, we have had the privilege to see other great organizations doing similar work right here in Dallas such as Bonton Farms, LalaLand Cafe’, Cafe Momentum. We met Susan Stephens, the Director of Exodus Ministries, at a local networking meeting and knew it was a perfect fit.
To read more of this article, please continue reading on the Dallas Doing Good website:
https://www.dallasdoinggood.com/doing-good/a-double-shot-of-job-training-creating-employment-and-community-for-women-after-incarceration
