Save the Beta!

Since 2000, The Beta Coffeehouse has been a welcoming space for locals and tourists alike. It's always been a little bohemian, a little more colorful, and a lot more artistic than most of the hang outs in the area. The coffee is always superb, the owners have always been friendly, the environment one of comfort and welcoming. We're also the only counter culture friendly hang out gig in town aside from the library, but we let you play the guitar and sing and laugh out really loud. Started by a husband and wife team of avid rock climbers, Beta has been a staple of the climbing community, folks who appreciate simple, delicious food and drink,  and youth in general. Becoming the captain of this amazing, prayer flag flying, community ship with its decades (!) of anonymous journal entries and sketches in volumes of Beta books, its countless witnessed experiences and friends met has been a dream come to reality and an honor. 

So, hi! I'm your captain. I've been the captain for just over three years now.  They say I own the joint, but I'm certain that she owns me. As it should be. Who am I? I'm a single mom of a Coolest Kid Ever contender, my son who shines bigger than his schizophrenia diagnosis. I'm an artist, a writer, a dreamer, and a woman who wants to make a difference in the world. I'm a person with an entire career's worth of experience in food service. I'm someone in love with service in general, and I've figured out the best place for me to serve. What I'm doing is not just coffee and bomb burritos. I'm out here providing kindness, support, compassion, acceptance, and an example of ethical strength in a harsh world. I choose people as crew who understand how important kindness is and how necessary showing others compassion is to community. I choose crew who need someone to show them what true support looks like and to carry that trust forward. My crew is family to me. I owe them gratitude, continued leadership, and security. They deserve all of my efforts and all of my respect. 

And our guests. Ohhh, our beloved guests.  It's not hard to love these people. As a group, they're overwhelmingly kind and accepting. They're warm and real and hilarious and delightful. They trust us. They look forward to coming in and we look forward to seeing them. This ain't no chain coffee shop. It's more like "Cheers" but without the beers. The early morning people. The tea people. The youth "in between" classes. The knitters. Support group gatherers. The old men and their stories. The mothers and children, laughing. The self-described weirdos. Goth girls. Gay guys. Office folk in meetings not in their offices. Climbers grabbing some fuel and exchanging plans. Musicians, great and not so. Readers and writers and very likely some candlestick makers. Truly. Our guests are amazing. To them I owe my gratitude and every effort I can to keep this space available. 

Finally, beyond community and crew, Beta supports my parents. My mom is my business partner, my bookkeeper, my pinch hitter, my baking buddy, my son's other guardian. My dad, a now one-legged old fellow, is a frail version of the man he once was. He needs more care than he wants to admit. We share a household to keep more of Beta's money flow in Beta. I owe them. They are the reason we have Beta. They spent all they had left on making this go. I am responsible for our futures.

I've never worked harder, hustled faster, or been so steadily passionate as I have with Beta.  I've never lived on less and pared down every personal expense I have with such deep cuts.  I didn't know until I was doing it that I could be so exhausted and still appreciative of the opportunity I had been given.  We've spent the past three years on the steepest learning curve I've ever experienced, finding patterns in the ins and outs of budgeting for All The Things (half of which is taxes). Good news is that it's working. We know what we're doing now.  Not so good news is that it didn't happen soon enough to keep us out of trouble.  Our landlord has been exceedingly patient with me and has done much to give us a fighting chance. Without that, we'd have been forced to stop much sooner. I currently owe close to $10K in past-due rent. Yeah. *That* patient. But it's due. Immediately.  In addition, in order to secure the lease on our building, I need to pay six months' rent in advance.  That's another $7500. Our current lease is up at the end of next month. Any money donated beyond those two expenses would be used for really fun things, like car repairs and equipment repairs and a Costco run. 

This is a very big ask. I feel small compared to what I'm asking for, but I feel sure that Beta is worth whatever I can do to keep her steady. This money will allow me to do that, and by circumstance, to give Beta six months' worth of relief from rent so that I and my crew can keep serving our community. So that I can maintain the flexibility I need in my schedule to parent Mr. Awesomesauce. So I can make sure my parents didn't struggle their whole lives just to have their golden years be painful and grey. So that I can keep being a leader and holding space for the sometimes unwanted out here in the U.S. Outback.

I need your help. Beta needs your help. All of us at Beta appreciate your care and support, and are grateful for everything we've been able to do so far. Thank you. Thank you for playing with us. Thank you for loving us.

Of course, donating means I owe you a cup of coffee.