CHARLOTTE — Channelle Rodgers is currently thriving as the manager at the Starbucks on UNC-Charlotte’s campus, but about a year ago, she was in a very different place. She was in need of employment, with three little mouths to feed and behind on rent.
Along came Change Please Coffee. It’s a cafe in Charlotte that employs and trains women and mothers experiencing housing instability to work in the shop, but then move on to more stable employment.
“They’re changing lives. They changed my life,” Rodgers told Channel 9′s Elsa Gillis.
While at the cafe, they’re paid double the living wage and given wraparound services, breaking down barriers that get in the way of stability.
“We’re going to support you. You need someone to check on your resume, revive it? We’re going to do that for you,” Rodgers explains. “They literally have gas cards. Do you have childcare? If you don’t, we can help you ... so they have the resources, and they’re giving it to people that are overlooked.”
Rodgers isn’t alone in her success.
Ryan McMillan with the Change Please organization says at the end of 2024, 73% of the year’s Charlotte graduates were still employed in their post-graduation jobs. The Charlotte cafe, which is part of a global program, opened in 2023.
“First year, a lot of fine-tuning, and then last year, so in 2024 you know, we did more trainees through our program in a two-week window in Denver, Colorado, in Charlotte, and in New York City than we had done an entire previous year,” McMillan said.
He says in the Queen City, the goal continues to be supporting more and more people, like Rodgers.
You can visit the Change Please Cafe for a cup of coffee at the Innovation Barn in Charlotte’s Belmont neighborhood. You can also buy their coffee grounds and beans at this link to support their work.
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