Cafe Works Grand Opening A Hit in Everett

It was pretty much standing room only Friday for the Grand Opening of Cafe Works inside Hopeworks Station at 3331 Broadway in Everett.

There was a steady stream of customers enjoying free cake and purchasing beverages and sandwiches during the time MyEverettNews.com stopped in.

Cafe Works is a collaboration between Cocoon House, Housing Hope and Hope Works. “It’s a gathering place for people who care about social issues in our community,” said Ed Peterson, founding Executive Director and now Chief Strategic Officer for Housing Hope. “This is another part of our core mission to create pathways for people who are struggling.”

Every six weeks, two interns enroll at a time for a 17 week period to learn customer service skills, food prep, barista training and other tools that can lead to full time, living-wage employment. There’s a culinary advisory committee that oversees operations and also will help steer those who complete the internships into jobs in the local food service industry. The interns come from both Cocoon House and Housing Hope.

MyEverettNews.com had a chance to meet with one of the first two interns in the program. Collette is a 21-year-old mother with a two-year-old who has been part of Housing Hope’s young parent program. “This is such a great opportunity to learn, get experience and have something to put on my resume,” she said. “The people here are so patient and helpful, I haven’t done customer service before and this is helps me feel more responsible and builds my self respect.” As one of the first interns, Collette also gets to provide feedback to the program.

Starbucks has donated equipment and also supplied material at one sixth the market cost to help get Cafe Works started. They have also helped with a training program. Other partners have also stepped in to get Cafe Works off to a great start.

Cafe Works is open Monday through Friday from 7:00 AM – 2:00 PM serving a variety of hot and cold beverages as well as hand made sandwiches along with a selection of pastries from Petite Sweet Bakery. You can see the menu here.

Free Wi-fi is also available and there is a meeting room that holds 12 people that you can reserve for just $15.00 an hour or it’s free if you spend $20.00 or more on coffee and food.

Cafe Works is also green with solar panels on the roof that generate energy not only for the cafe but also for the entire building and can even help provide power to the neighborhood energy grid. A monitor shows the energy generated by the rooftop solar panels.

Here’s a little more information on the partners collaborating to make up Cafe Works…

About HopeWorks Social Enterprises

HopeWorks Social Enterprises is an affiliate of Housing Hope, and was launched in January 2011 with the goal of helping families gain skills and training for “in demand” jobs to enable them to start towards a living wage career. HopeWorks creates and operates social enterprise businesses designed to provide jobs and internships for families experiencing and at risk of homelessness residing in low-income housing. HopeWorks currently owns and operates four businesses where lots of great training and education happens through paid internships.

About Housing Hope

Housing Hope, founded in 1987, recognizes that safe, decent and affordable housing is only the first step in solving poverty for struggling families. The innovative concept to provide a full range of housing with housing-related support services is a hallmark of the Housing Hope mission. Housing Hope combines affordable housing with tailored services such as life-skills training, childcare, case management, and employment services. Housing Hope also offers homeownership opportunities for low-income individuals of Snohomish County and Camano Island. Housing Hope’s website is www.housinghope.org

About Cocoon House

Cocoon House empowers young people, families and the community to break the cycle of homelessness through outreach, housing and prevention. Since 1991, Cocoon House has been the only organization in Snohomish County that focuses exclusively on teen homelessness. We believe that every young person in our community should be safe and thriving. Combined, our programs have served over 1,500 youth in our FY14. For additional information please contact Cocoon House at 425-259-5802 or visit www.cocoonhouse.org