Charlotte cafe provides training to mothers experiencing homelessness

CHARLOTTE — A new coffee shop in Charlotte’s Innovation Barn is giving women experiencing homelessness a chance to change their path.

“Originally, before I moved into the shelter, I lived in my van for a total of 129 days” one of the women from Change Please Coffee Café and Training Center told Your704′s Elsa Gillis.

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“The hardest part was finding a safe place to park. Gas in my van was very expensive. To eat, I didn’t have anywhere to cook so sometimes I’d have to eat hot dogs for breakfast, lunch, and dinner because that’s all I could afford,” the woman shared.

She said one time her car broke down and she was stuck at a rest area for three days in November. “It was like 30 degrees in the daytime, and it got down to like 22 at night, and that was hard.”

Now, she’s in a shelter, but that doesn’t matter at Change Please.

The coffee shop employs and trains individuals experiencing homelessness, pays them at least double the minimum wage, and provides wraparound services supporting the trainees on a path to stability.

“To help someone to feel human and normal again, not like their situation defines them because my situation does not define my intelligence, it does not define who I am as a person, it’s just my current situation,” she said.

Change Please started with a single coffee cart in London and is now a global nonprofit.

Ryan McMillan of Change Please says this is the first training academy in the U.S. and there are plans to expand in Charlotte and nationally.

“It’s all about stripping the streets off of people, getting them back to who they are,” McMillan said. “And then it’s just about removing obstacles that are in their way so that they can go out and help themselves.”

In Charlotte, the focus is on mothers experiencing homelessness. They’re working on upcycling a shipping container and transforming it into a play center so their trainees will be able to bring their children to work.

“In the U.S., when we came out, one of the things that we realized is the cost of childcare was just cost-prohibitive for women to be able to go back into the workplace,” McMillan said.

Each cup of coffee sold at the café makes a difference, with 100% of the proceeds going to serve their mission.

“We want to get really good coffee in front of people and use something that tastes great, that people want to come back and buy again and again because that gives us that long-term impact,” McMillan said.

Globally, the organization’s success rate of people still being in long-term employment after leaving the program is 80%. McMillan estimates they’ll be able to train between 200-220 people per location, each year.

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Since we spoke with this Charlotte woman, she’s graduated from the program, found permanent employment, and is on a new path, for her and for her daughter, whom she’s helping to put through college.

“I do have employable skills. I have a customer service background. I’ve had jobs before, and a lot of homeless people have that same background,” she said. “But Change Please gives you the opportunity to not only learn a new skill but puts you in front of people who will give you a job so that you can start to change your situation. It’s definitely not a handout. I don’t want to be cheesy and say it’s a hand up but it is, definitely. I feel so empowered.”

Change Please Café is inside the Innovation Barn in Charlotte’s Belmont neighborhood at 932 Seigle Ave.

For more information, go to changeplease-us.org.

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