Faithventure Forum

Our partners Dry Bones Denver have produced an excellent video that tells the story of two of the participants in Purple Door Coffee , the project we have started together to employ youth transitioning from homelessness. The video gives excellent insight into the challenges our clients face and the real value organizations like Purple Door, Dry Bones and Belay provide to the Denver community. Check it out:

I am so excited we are nearing our start-up funding goals for our planned Purple Door Coffee shop to employ some of the large number of homeless young adults in the Denver area. Our talented Purple Door leadership team of Madison Chandler and Mark Smesrud have done a fantastic job sharing the vision for this project with the community positioning us for the next step which is renting the shop location. Please keep praying for this project and stay tuned for more updates as we continue developing this program. And here's my thoughts on Purple Door in a recent interview: Jim Reiner Interview from Purple Door Coffee on Vimeo .

Check out this new video from Belay's Purple Door Coffee project which will serve young adults exiting homelessness. As one homeless young man poignantly shares, "I want a job...I really do." Please feel free to share as we strive for a September 2012 opening. Purple Door Coffee from Purple Door Coffee on Vimeo .

I met Ed at a homeless shelter 12 years ago and he's been our part-time janitor at Bud's Warehouse ever since. Today, Ed picked up Jackie from the nursing home to bring her by Bud's Warehouse so she could say "hi" to everyone. It's hard to believe that Ed and Jackie have been dating for 21 years. Nothing would make him happier than to get married and move in together. But because of her health, they've had to settle on declaring themselves married by common-law and live apart. So on his days off, Ed picks up Jackie at her nursing home for short trips by bus around town. "She has to stay with me," Ed notes, "and I have to have her home by dark." "You can't keep us apart," Jackie says. "People in love need to be together."

World Magazine recently named Victory Trade School of Springfield, Missouri, its 2011 Hope Award for Effective Compassion. Victory Trade School runs an innovative Christ-centered culinary arts training program for individuals starting over from addiction, homelessness and prison. Students in the program are required to complete a year long discipleship program called Prep as a prerequisite before entering the hospitality training program. Participants then start the culinary program where they receive intensive training which results in seven certificates recognized by the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation . Student receive paid on-the-job training in the organization's two faithventure businesses : the Cook's Kettle Restaurant and Branch Bistro and Catering . Check out this video to learn more about Victory Trade School: Victory Trade School; Springfield, MO from james Allen Walker on Vimeo . Via Rudy Carrasco of Urban Onramps .

It is much harder to work with an individual rebuilding a life from addiction and homelessness than someone trying to reenter the workforce as an ex-offender. That's been my experience over the last 13 years employing and job training individuals seeking a new start from homelessness, addiction and prison in our various faith venture businesses at Belay Enterprises . Conventional wisdom tells employers to stay away from ex-offenders because they can not be trusted because of past mistakes, they are unmotivated, and they can be very difficult to work with on a daily basis. But I have found that to be completely untrue. People entering the workforce after prison tend to be highly motivated with a deep desire to succeed in order to rebuild relationships with their families and to restore their life. They just need someone to give them a chance and an environment that allows them to thrive on the job. The most challenging client we work with in our various transitional employment busin...

I am excited to announce that the Belay Enterprises Board of Directors approved the addition of Purple Door Coffee to our portfolio of incubating faith venture businesses . Spearheaded by Madison Chandler in partnership with local homeless ministry Dry Bones, this new venture will raise start-up funding to create a local coffee shop to employ homeless young adults leaving the street life. I've written before about Seattle's Street Beans Espresso . It's our hope that Purple Door will mirror that organization's successful approach working with homeless youth in the Northwest. And continuing the coffee theme, the Belay Board also approved continuing exploring a partnership with Chicago areas faith venture I Have A Bean Coffee to open a Denver area micro-roastery to employ ex-offenders. If you're interested in helping us develop these two entities or just want to learn more, please feel free to contact us at 303-296-3990.

Homelessness and joblessness are synonymous. It is very difficult for a homeless person to find employment without an address, phone number, email address, and identification. But employment becomes even more challenging for young people living on the streets, which sadly is becoming a bigger problem throughout the United States. Creating employment opportunities for homeless youth is a challenge ripe for the attention of Christ-following business people. There is a big need for urban faith ventures to employ young people seeking to leave the streets. In Seattle, Washington, New Horizons Ministries runs Street Bean Espresso , a coffee shop that provides employment and job training for young adults working to exit the street life. As the Street Bean's web site explains on its story page : One of the keys to getting off the street is steady employment. We had always dreamed of opening a business that would provide supportive employment for the young adults we serve—a plac...

Individuals rebuilding lives from homeless in a transitional housing program often have a difficult time finding employment even in the best of economies. Yet, when they have a job they are more likely to succeed in the transitional housing program. Leaders of such programs intuitively know the positive relationship between housing and employment from experience. Indeed, the importance of healthy employment environments for transitional program participants was one of the reasons behind the formation of Bud’s Warehouse and Belay Enterprises 15 years ago . Yet, we’ve found it difficult to find studies that substantiate what seems so obvious. I recently became aware of a 2007 Urban Institute study of L.A. Hope , a federal housing and employment demonstration project in Los Angeles. This study gives empirical evidence that when homeless residential providers connect housing with intensive employment services individuals with large barriers to employment succeed in jobs while maintaining...