The Minimum that Becomes the Maximum
Photo Credit: Tom Griscom Someone once called Refuge out for doing “the bare minimum.” To be honest, my first thought was, “Heck, yes, we do the bare minimum.” I know that phrase denotes doing the least possible, but what if the most we can do is never enough? Sometimes what needs to be done in […]
Ahmad, Dreaming
I remember how I used to dream… As a young pharmacist in Damascus, I dreamed of starting a family, of establishing my own home, of a full life. And then the war changed all of that. The violent interruption of our ability to dream is one of the hardest things about being a refugee. […]
I’m looking for 100 new monthly Refuge Coffee donors!
Photo by Patrick Koltz – http://patrickkolts.com Here are five reasons why I—a fundraiser who really doesn’t love asking people for money—have zero qualms asking you to become a regular donor to Refuge Coffee. When you give a monthly gift to Refuge… 1. You give to people. To be specific, to… Leon EleniAhmad Mohammed Malek Amena […]
We Stand With You
To our African American neighbors: Because true welcome includes sitting at the table of sorrow with friends and neighbors… We stand with you.We ache with you.We are for you. We commit to thinking deeplyTo admitting wrongs,Admitting them againAnd again.We will make space for honest conversations.And we will do our best to elevate justice. “By accepting […]
5 Ways to Support Refuge Coffee…from your couch!
Thanks to all of you who have already donated to our Tip Jar campaign, ordered a latte at our drive-thru in Clarkston or for pick-up at Sweet Auburn. Thanks for inviting our truck to your neighborhoods (appropriately socially-distant neighborhood meet-up pictured above!*). Even if you don’t live near one of our coffee shops, we’re working […]
How’re you doing?
https://youtu.be/I0NJ3WeK5io That’s a loaded question these days, isn’t it? We want to know how you’re doing. We want you to thrive, to stay well and connected to those you love. We want you to have a measure of peace. Our COO, Walt, and I (99% Walt and 1% me) created a little video to re-cap […]
Meet James
You’d never guess that James, one of our new Refuge Coffee trainees, is homesick. His smile is too broad. His handshake too firm, his embrace too warm. His gaze too genuinely interested in you. But James is homesick. He’s not particularly homesick for the Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya, where he spent 17 of his […]
The Welcoming Community Meets the Beloved Community
I remember posting the above photo on MLK Day a few years ago. It felt a little arrogant connecting one of my heroes, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., to one of my loves, Refuge Coffee. But I don’t think I was being completely tone deaf, either. Dr. King’s belief in the Beloved Community, in the […]
What are we for
Every so often I open myself up and read the comment stream under a news or social media piece about Refuge, knowing it might hurt. A while ago, I read these comments: The left-wing multicults are willing to sacrifice limitless lives in the pursuit of their utopian vision. and Soon they will fill this truck […]
HLN: Coffee Truck Job Trains Refugees From All Over The World
Click here for full video We’re Refuge Coffee, a nonprofit fueled by the mission of welcome. We’re on a mission to invite our refugee and immigrant neighbors to our table through intentional job training, mentorship, and radical community support. Click here to find out more about us.
