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Youth at NewHolly brew a new business

10.01.2019

Youth at NewHolly brew a new business

SHA’s Youth Engagement Specialist, Ty Edwards, and Youth Connector, Abraham Kidanemariam, work with NewHolly and Rainier Vista youth to develop aspirations, successful academic approaches and future goals. Over the summer, NewHolly youth participated in a program where they were mentored by local business owners and given entrepreneurial opportunities to develop a business plan and bring their product to market. Their business, Wired Cafe, launched in September. This entirely youth-run mobile  business will feature a range of drinks including smoothies, green juices, tea, coffee and espresso drinks. Business profits will fund educational scholarships for SHA students. For more information, contact Ty Edwards

Meet some of the youth, who share the story and their personal experience about starting the business. 

Our Stories

From the Wired Cafe team

"We are a group of teens from NewHolly who are passionate about gaming, community and education. For the past year, we have been learning how to make coffee, we learned how to make espressos, steam milk, and pour-over coffee. We also learned how to run a business. With the help of Ty, Abraham, and others we have been able to make great tasting coffee and successfully run our business. We have learned how to make coffee thanks to Blas Alfaro, Brian Hernandez, Stacy Kim of Fulcrum Coffee, and Jesiah Wurtz of Cafe Red. We will be selling coffee to customers to create scholarships for upcoming high school seniors living in Seattle Housing Authority."

"Our goal is to raise $10,000 for ten scholarships of $1000, $5000 for employment expenses and the last $5000 for operation expenses. Our menu will feature a wide range of drinks including smoothies, soda, green juices, tea, water and coffee. Our supplier is going to be Fulcrum Coffee. We are very thankful and fortunate to receive so much support from individuals, organizations, and community towards our mission of serving local coffee for a greater purpose."

Hi, my name is Giau

"Being one of the co-owners of Wired Cafe has been a pleasure. There are many things that I enjoyed and learned. But there were also challenges that we had to overcome. One challenge I had over the summer working with Ty was completing the business plan because I didn't really know much about running a business. I’m glad we had Abraham and Ty to direct us through the business plan."

"One thing I enjoyed the most was being able to make coffee through the espresso machine. When we were first learning how to make espresso, it was difficult to keep up and we had many challenges including burning ourselves on the milk steamer. My experience as a part of this team has been incredible. Although I faced some challenges, I still had a great time and was able to overcome many of them."

Hi, my name is Alan

"Being in this internship has been a true honor. We’ve done so many things in this internship that if my teachers were to ask me to write about what I did for the summer it would be about four pages long. Ty is one of the most intelligent people I know. Being in his internship and being able to work under him is just a blessing. Becoming a barista in training is also one of the many things we’ve done over the summer. Raising money for my fellow peers is a way for me to give back to this community, but also helping those who can’t afford to go to college. There were challenges that we overcame over this internship as a team. I’m glad to say that I had a great time over the summer of 2019."

Hi, my name is Daimon

"It’s a wonderful opportunity to work with a team of interns to put our minds together with a wonderful leader, Ty. Ty is one of the greatest leaders and I follow him because of his inspiration to work as a team and without his leadership we wouldn’t have grown smarter and earn this experience that others can’t, Ty is not only a leader, but is also a person who cares about our background and wants to know more about us."

"To be on this team is wonderful for us to learn and experience what it's like in the real world. Being able to make drinks or raise enough money for people in need of scholarships puts a smile on my face and makes me proud of not only myself, but the people I work with. The team I work with is wonderful, I have known some of them before this opportunity, but now I know them well and we all understand each other as interns should. There were many challenges we had to overcome, but I didn't do it alone, we overcame them together."

"This summer had some challenges because every experience was new and eye opening, and with the team and training from leadership we accomplished all of our goals. This summer of 2019 was the best experience and wonderful part of my life."