Bring a food cart & seating to the Daydreamer!

No raffles, sweepstakes, giveaways, or returns on investment are offered in exchange for any donations made to this GoFundMe.

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Hey hey, we're the Daydreamers! You may know us because you have swung by our little coffee cart at the corner of Fessenden and Burr across from George Park in St. Johns. We opened in November of 2018 with a coffee brewer, an early 90’s model espresso machine, and whole lot of heart.

We survived our first winter, added bagels to the menu, and then somehow survived a pandemic together. We were the only people that some folks saw outside of their households for quite a while. Those were truly unforgettable times.

We’ve enjoyed a great partnership with the folks we’d been subleasing from, Bluehouse Fitness, but 18 months ago they purchased a new building and would be relocating the business once the build out of their new facility was complete. They asked if we wanted to join them, but we couldn’t leave this little corner. We have been in limbo since.

Finally the time has come and Daydreamer has a great opportunity for expansion! We’re excited to share that we are taking over the building.

Our vision is to add indoor seating and create a community event space where we plan to host music, comedy, open mics, poetry, movie nights, and more. We plan to have a few dedicated, reservable workspaces as well as plenty of comfortable seating surrounded by plants, books, rotating artwork, and crafts from local makers.

We plan to move the coffee cart next to the building and create a unified feel through thoughtful design that joins existing features such as the garage door of the building with a new covered pergola. The carport will shift away from the front of the building to roughly where the coffee cart is currently located, near the sidewalk on Burr, and tables will be added underneath for outdoor seating.

But wait, there's more!!

For years we have been challenged with how to consistently provide you with food beyond bagels. We now have the solution! We have located and put a deposit on a class 4 food trailer to start baking our own pastries and offering an expanded menu of freshly prepared hot food!

That’s right! Finally! FRESH, HOT BREAKFAST SANDOS ON FESSENDEN! The food cart we located will be a great fit → It’s already been serving Higgins bagels to north Portland for years!

Y’all – the time is now. And we’ve made it this far with your support and patronage, but now we need your help more than ever.

We need about $20k by a specific timeline to get started: 9/30 or bust.

The cost of the food cart is $22k. We gave the seller a non-refundable deposit of $1k, with the remaining funds due soon. (Multnomah County Dept. of Environmental Health recently announced that they are changing the regulations for wastewater holding and disposal, now requiring food carts to get plumbed into the sewer and adding extra logistics and expense to an already complex situation.)

Here is a breakdown of what we need to get started:

Food Trailer $21,000

Utility Upgrades $4,000

Inventory & Supplies $750

Add’l Materials $1,250

Licensing $690 

Once we meet our goals for the exterior we can focus on what we’re planning for inside the space.

The Daydreamer is going to be part event space, part creative lounge. Bar seating across the windows will overlook George Park with ample tables and seating nooks nestled in lush plantscaped moments. The community table and dreamy creative cabanas will be reservable by the hour, creating privacy in a dedicated third space.

We will be open longer, with later hours. We’ll finally get back to being open seven days a week with a possibly a siesta in the middle of the day when the middle schoolers from down the block at George are let loose for the day.

We are super excited, but it is important to note that we cannot take out a long-term lease on the property at this time due to the property owner’s personal situation. It takes energy to remain persistent and patient when circumstances are not in your control, but we have faith in the long-term while building something uniquely cool and functional.

We’ve served this neighborhood with heart and hustle for almost four years. Thank you so much for all of your love and support. We appreciate every single dollar spent at our humble little shop. It’s your energy. We know this is a big ask, but we believe you can see the vision along with us.

Thank you so much for helping us make this happen!

With Love,

Cat & Caryn

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[[ EDITED: "Backer rewards for Daydreamers!" Removed 9/29/22 @ 7:30 AM due to GoFundMe terms & conditions.]]

No raffles, sweepstakes, giveaways, or returns on investment are offered in exchange for any donations made to this GoFundMe.