Fire Relief

Alright, hello everyone! Harrison here, some of you may know me through coffee, music, or the arts in general. I am a barista at Revival Motors and Coffee Co. that burned down the morning of December 15th. Revival was my place to catapult to my next thing in life. Our building, home to about 11 different companies, was destroyed. If you're looking for details, here's a current article. This event has put me out of my primary income source, which worked perfectly for my music performances. This destruction, along with the pandemic, has impacted my financial stability. I'm hoping to raise funds to keep up with my rent, food, gas, and bills - better yet, hire my band!

 

It's been pretty hard to navigate the emotions that come from such a freakish event that happened on the 15th. With Revival and the building itself being the home that it was for the people involved and its owners, some of us lost everything. Some of us lost a piece of ourselves that we will never get back.

 

Revival is not just a place of work but a safe place to be exposed to new music (which is very important to me), a place to feel comfortable and a part of something. It was another home for me and a bunch of others. The people above and to the right, Audrey, Jimmi, Tory, Mirce, Lauren, and Steve, made it home, made it Revival. These people are the most significant source of hope for me. This hope and our community are all that we got. And it's helping me push through.

 

I'll be with the Revival team during this drastic change. Unfortunately, working on and off through pandemic closures and mandates did not save up any unemployment benefits to survive another setback and find my next steps. I hope to stay a barista for Revival and be ready to sling beans for them whenever the call comes. In the meantime, I am taking offers for occasional work. Unfortunately, with bills stacking up, those occasional jobs won't cut it. Did I mention my band is available for shows?

 

I am grateful for any gift you can give.

Thank you,

Harrison

 

P.S. I want to share some bits of love, community, and support that I was beyond blessed to take in with my family at Revival and the people of the buildings surrounding us. I hope you're okay with me just rambling.

 

One memory that kept popping in my head was sometime in late 2019. Audrey invited me to her office to brainstorm some wild ideas. I get pumped to brainstorm with Audrey; we can go on for a while talking about wild ideas! She asked me if I would be a barista for her dream cafe/bike shop/bike spot to spare the details. I immediately said yes, cause I trust and believe in her cause why the fuck not; she's a fucking badass who wants to make her home a better place. After seeing them get into the building and making their visions come true, it was time to interview and hire the baristas to run the front. The interview was way more fun and serious at the same time than I expected. All I could remember was Jimmi having his fingerless gloves still on and asking me questions. All I could think was that "damn, this man probably drives so damn fast on his bike." After hearing the stories about his rides. My thoughts were correct.

 

I grew to love my morning routines to open the shop. Start the day making sure the bois in the back their morning jump. Then spend a solid 10 mins over thinking which album to impress Jimmi & Mirce to see how far I can push their musical boundaries! Some mornings Jimmi catches the aux before I do. I get exposed to the wildest shit I've ever heard. I'll miss that. Lol, getting yelled at from across the cafe at 8:20 am, "what the fuck is this?! change it!!" for playing Nickelback. I've confirmed, the bois do not like Nickelback. But man, when I put on Lead Belly, Stevie W., or Muse, I always knew that I wasn't the only one in the space that was rocking my head; I'd turn around and see Jimmi or Mirce rocking their head with me. Never in my life have I imagined a cafe where I can work at where I'd get that at. Gosh, the first time I got on a running motorcycle was in the alley, right of the cafe. I thought Mirce was wild for having me ride this beast down the tiny alley; good thing I killed right away. Gosh, I remember having some of my serious band meetings during off-hours of the cafe where the band and I would hang with Jimmi and be in awe of how much of a badass he is. It felt like we were hanging out with a giant in the world of music, bikes, and community, and I'll tell ya we definitely were and still are in that giant's presence. Some of the blessings of the day would come from the visits of tory and Audrey; it was my daily serotonin booster. Jimmi gave me the courage to change my damn brake pads just by saying, "here, look at this vid.. there.. ya see? easy".. such a simple man.. gonna miss that.

 

That's just the tip of it. Revival Motors and Coffee Co (RMCCo) is my family.