DENVER — A new coffee shop opened earlier this year in Denver that has a deeper meaning than just brewing your morning cup.
Purple Door Coffee is a non-profit that provides job readiness and life skills for young people who have no home of their own. Coffee is just their conduit or a path out of homelessness for young people, according to the non-profit.
"We spend a lot of time in mock interviews, how to look for a job and all the skills that you need to be able to keep a job, how to regulate yourself to get up on time and just really build new habits," said Tami Bonner, director of Social Enterprises at Purple Door Coffee.
Their coffee shop is located in North Capitol Hill on Sherman Street. They've only been open a few months, since March. Purple Door Coffee is part of a larger non-profit called Dry Bones Denver. It provides support to unhoused young adults.
"What people don’t realize is that the people that you see on the streets, that is an entire untapped group of human beings that have immense potential and they just need space to realize that potential," said Bonner.
From 2022 to 2023, 1,787 young people ages 18-to-24 were taking advantage of homelessness services in the area, according to the Metro Denver Homeless Initiative.
Purple Door Coffee's readiness program begins in Englewood, where the organization has a coffee roastery. Then, the shop in Denver is a next-step job opportunity where participants can become a barista.
"The job itself produced an interest in doing work well, seeing the task done properly and the pride that inspired, it took time for that to matter, but eventually it did begin to do so," said David Jepson.
Jepson came to the program when he was 20 years old. Years later, he's living on his own, financially independent, and now able to dream about what he wants to do next.
"Well currently there’s a yearning state, which is something that hasn’t really happened to me in a long time, which is related to wanting a little bit more out of life," he said.
Graduates of the program have gone on to graduate high school, college, and become financially solvent.
Every coffee purchased or business that uses Purple Door Coffee is supporting their mission.
If you're an unhoused young adult who needs help, you can go to the coffee shop to get connected to Dry Bones' outreach team. You can also head to their headquarters at 16th and Downing Street (1600 N Downing St, Denver, CO).
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