Workforce News

Wildflyer咖啡为无家可归的青少年提供解决方案

31 October 2023

明尼苏达州路德社会服务机构估计 6000名青年无家可归其中大约一半在双子城地区. 有许多促成因素，比如参与司法系统, neglect, 被遗弃或家庭冲突. Perhaps the biggest barrier for these youth to obtaining a place to live is finding and maintaining employment. 双子城的一家咖啡店正在用自己的咖啡来解决这个问题.

“We believe we can educate the community on what youth homelessness looks like in our area while working with young people as they develop their independence and work towards a more stable future,Wildflyer咖啡项目经理肯齐·迪斯纳(Kenzie Diessner)说.

Wildflyer Coffee is a nonprofit coffee shop with locations in Saint Paul and Minneapolis. While Wildflyer creates coffee that tastes good, it believes its coffee can also do good. With a mission “to create employment opportunities for youth experiencing homelessness and housing instability through the cultivation of life skills and personal empowerment,Wildflyer已经建立了一个程序来实现这一目标.

Co-founder and Executive Director Carley Kammerer started Wildflyer in 2017 as a small coffee cart, 为小型活动和市场提供餐饮. The first brick-and-mortar store came in 2020 in Minneapolis, adding a Saint Paul location in 2023. The Wildflyer team’s background is rooted in social work and various youth operations, 加深对青少年无家可归问题的理解.

“我们意识到青年无家可归的周期性, we wanted to create a space for dignified employment and the opportunity to develop skills that can stop that cycle, " said Diessner.

培训计划

Wildflyer的咖啡 Work & Life Skills Training Program is a four-month employment training program to cultivate the personal and professional skills youth aged 16-24 need to find and maintain stable employment and leave homelessness for good. 迪斯纳估计，与Wildflyer合作的青少年中，约有20%受到司法影响, 但无家可归的问题远不止于此.

“Getting a job is not the issue; keeping a job is,” she said. “It's challenging to consistently show up to work on time when you don’t know where you’re sleeping that night or where your next meal comes from.”

该计划包括三个部分. The first involves delivering the hard skills necessary for the daily operations of the coffee shop, 毕业生能够在任何一家咖啡店工作，成为一名典型的咖啡师. 第二种是关于保住工作所必需的软技能的教育, from attendance and punctuality to proper communication and interaction with staff and customers. The final piece is the development of a “YOU Portfolio” through guidance from support staff and employment counselors on mock interviews, 简历准备等方面完成自己的职场准备.

“Our goal is to not only train our cohorts on employment but also to help them develop the confidence to maintain gainful employment in a space that lets them dream about what's next,迪斯纳说.
Wildflyer在2022年的影响令人印象深刻:85美元,支付的工资为3万英镑,500小时的青年就业, with 80% of those young people remaining employed or enrolled in education and a stable housing situation at their three-month post-graduation check-in.

斗争的解决方案

无家可归的青年面临着许多障碍, 无论是刑事司法系统的时间, 药物滥用的危害, 心理健康或其他问题. Wildflyer的领导层不会回避这些情况, 灵活的问责制最能定义他们的方法.

“我们希望我们的项目参与者知道我们关心他们, Wildflyer是一个犯错和成长的安全空间, but that also means having the hard conversations around accountability and expectations in the workplace and for what they want for their future,迪斯纳说.

许多雇主会因为员工迟到而解雇他, 但在Wildflyer, that scenario is viewed as a starting point to meet the individual where they’re at to talk about what is going on in their outside life leading to that point.

“We respect their situation and want to have a conversation to talk about the possibilities for growth and improvement,迪斯纳说. “We believe in universal human dignity and leading with grace to hopefully grow that in all our cohorts.”

感谢合作伙伴

与众多合作伙伴的合作使Wildflyer的使命成为现实. Diessner pointed to Normandale College and Caribou Coffee in the hard skill training arena, who collaborated with them to create a customer service workshop to allow students to earn continuing education credits at the school.

“We are so thankful for their work and impressed with Caribou’s intentionality with our program participants and concern about teaching the industry's customer service principles,” she said.

长期合作伙伴 Avivo 提供就业咨询, 强调职业发展的连续性和一致性的重要性.

“Avivo has always been aligned with how we work with our young people along their journey,迪斯纳说.

Wildflyer明尼阿波利斯办事处所在的大楼也是二贝蒂绿色清洁服务公司. The business created a cleaning kit for youth moving into apartments or living spaces.

Diessner说:“今年我们已经有7个年轻人搬进了自己的生活空间. “清洁包可能看起来很简单，但它是他们进步的一种资源和象征.”

More to do

在2023年增加第二个地点之后, Diessner believes it is time to think about what is next for programming at Wildflyer.

“We have developed a Youth Advisory Committee to help us determine what continued support graduates seek as they leave Wildflyer and move into their next employment opportunity,” she said. “We are also continuing to develop strategic partnerships with businesses to hire graduates of our program and provide a work environment that encourages learning and growth."

Wildflyer takes applications for their program four times a year and will begin accepting the next round of applications in November. Apply here 作为工作经验计划的一部分. 那些有兴趣帮助Wildflyer Coffee完成使命的人可以 donate here.

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