Main fundraiser photo

Rosebud Coffee

IN A NUTSHELL
Rosebud is the cafe extension of Rose City Coffee , a non-profit with a social business dedicated to empowering and employing youth transitioning from the foster system and/or homelessness.


We craft coffee, change and community by sharing our knowledge of specialty coffee skill with Transitional Aged Youth (TAY) in our one-on-one training program. This empowers them to gain job experience and confidence for employment in the coffee and hospitality industry. There, they can find stability, creativity and friendship in an ever-growing world of possibility. Until now, Rose City Coffee was exclusively a catering company, using its beloved cart, Rosebud, to serve the community.

YEARS AGO,
a compassionate family man (Dan) found himself tasked with jumpstarting a church in Pasadena, California. On the church property he found a small group of homeless young adults sleeping on the concrete slab underneath the awning at the back door. Focused both internally toward the church he pastors and externally toward the city in which his family lives, Dan looked for ways to better meet the needs of the youth in his neighborhood.

A coffee lover from his time in Europe, Dan and his friend Brett Prior had an idea one day to repurpose a coffee cart that he inherited at the church. Meeting with Michael Phillips from Handsome Coffee, Brett and Dan realized training youth in speciality coffee could create the difference he was hoping to make.

Thus was born Rose City Coffee. After the dedication of a few volunteers over the last five years, Rose City Coffee is opening its first brick and mortar. Through a three to five month training program, we have trained 15 youth - 65% of which moved on to jobs in the coffee/food service industry. Expanding to a cafe will increase the number of TAY we can take on at one time and give more through first-hand experience before launching one into his/her own career.


OUR GOAL
At Rosebud , the heartbeat of our coffee shop is our espresso machine. Its gentle hum is our center. From there a gift is given, an exchange between new and old friends.

As we embark on the journey of opening the doors to our first shop, we are hoping to raise money as a community for the La Marzocco Linea PB .


The retail cost of the Linea we hope to purchase is $18,000. We'd like to make this the item that our community purchases with us. Your tax-deductible donation will be put to very good use. Anything above our goal will, of course, go toward our other build-out and equipment needs.

Please note that the total costs of equipment will be nearly $35,000 for the grinders, batch brewer, refrigeration and many other items needed to sustain a cafe.

HOW WE CRAFT CHANGE
The reality of what it means to fall through the cracks of incomplete systems is harsh . It takes determination and months, if not a year or more, of support to get on one's own feet after experiencing homelessness.

In this effort, Rose City Coffee connects with organizations which provide housing and social services in order to more fully support each youth to whom we are introduced. Our training process is a thorough mentoring model. Each youth is paired with a local barista who imparts the finest skill level comparable to any specialty coffee training program currently available.


COFFEE IS COMMUNITY
Partnership is not only what we seek when supporting youth through skills development, it is the fabric of who we are. While we are a multi-roaster and those we choose to partner with take great care and concern for the communities in which they find themselves doing business as well.

Wild Goose coffee roasters donates 10 POUNDS of food to a food bank in the area of their wholesale account for every pound of coffee we sell.


By purchasing coffee from Wild Goose, we're bolstering our local food bank. Sababa water pays for one full meal per EACH bottle of water purchased. HOPE catering hires those who have been outcast and overlooked. Demitasse regularly donates to charitable causes of all types, including the Trevor Project, Raise-A-Child, and the ACLU.

Should you desire to help in other ways:

1) SHARE!
IG: @rosebudcoffee
Facebook: Rosebud Coffee


2) POP-UP love
From Aug 29 - Sept 9, we'll be popping up in our new space at 2302 E Colorado Blvd. Pasadena from 8A-12P Monday thru Saturday.


Here's who we're working and in discussion with:
- Youth Moving On
- Hathaway-Sycamores
- Los Angeles Youth Network
- Pacific Clinics

THANK YOU. We are incredibly grateful for each of you who have taken the time to read about us and our partners. For whatever you can give, thank you.

Mostly, thank you for being you and our friend.

peace,
Team Rosebud


Here's an interesting Q&A on:
housing and homelessness
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Donations 

  • Paula Rothschild
    • $200 
    • 3 yrs
Donate

Organizer

Dan Davidson
Organizer
Pasadena, CA
Rose City Church (First Free Methodist Church of Pasadena)
 
Registered nonprofit
Donations are typically 100% tax deductible in the US.

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