Story and Soil Cafe Forced to Move On

Hello everyone. We are Sarah and Michael McCoy and Michael Acosta, the owners of Story and Soil Coffee. We built this business 8 years ago, wanting a community space to share ideas, celebrate all identities, and do so over beautiful coffees and teas.

4 years ago we expanded from our tiny Hartford storefront to a shared space with a bookstore in a building owned by Wesleyan University. It was a huge endeavor and risk for us, being very much in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. We did so believing in the commitment to small businesses and in a shared vision for the space.

We LOVED serving the Wesleyan community. The students have been kind and welcoming, patient and so supportive. Earlier this week a number of them approached our baristas, concerned that Story and Soil was leaving campus.

This was news to us.

We reached out to our Wesleyan contacts and heard nothing for 2 days. On Thursday, May 1, we received an official letter terminating our agreement with no explanation. Had we not heard from the students earlier, we believe Wesleyan officials would have given us even less time.

We are heartbroken, not only for ourselves, but for our employees and the student body. Some of our employees helped open the space 4 years ago and remain committed to our vision and mission for what hospitality should look like. And the students, many of whom should be focusing on finals and celebrating their upcoming graduation, are wondering how they can help us.

We are launching this GoFundMe to help in this time of transition. This includes supporting our Middletown employees as they seek to find new employment, unexpectedly, and for us to be pay off the last of the small business loan we took out to be able to serve Middletown. With no notice and a lack of communication all year, Wesleyan is putting a largely queer staff at risk with no opportunity to plan for their future. These individuals have been responsible for creating a safe space for all during a time where marginalized communities feel anything but safe.

For most of us, coffee and hospitality is just a part of the way we serve. Many of us are involved in advocacy work for affordable housing, LGBTQIA+ rights, economic justice, etc. This work has taught us that it is our community who will support and sustain us. We are taking a Mutual Aid type approach in this fundraiser. We expect funds to be split between employees based on the time they've worked with us, their current needs, and how much we are able to raise. Any left over funds will go to paying down the loan we took out to open the space.

In this time of change, we thank you for all of the ways you have helped to ease this pain. We have been inundated with encouraging messages, offers to help, and beautiful anecdotes. Thank you.

We look forward to serving you in Hartford!