Helping the homeless, one cup at a time

Construction firms, government agencies and social service organizations are among groups that strive to help the homeless in Minnesota.

Then there is Wildflyer Coffee, employing young people in the Twin Cities who are experiencing homelessness and offering them a job and life skills training with experts in such things as time management and conflict resolution.

“My grandfather experienced homelessness growing up, and he was in and out of jail his whole life,” said Ben Griswold, 29, co-founder of Wildflyer with Carley Kammerer, 28. “I wished he had mental-health (and) substance-abuse resources as a youth.”

Growing up in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Griswold said he also saw other people struggling, and decided early on that he wanted to help by creating opportunities for those in need.

Griswold and Kammerer met as neighbors in south Minneapolis and found they had a lot in common. While Griswold’s early career was in finance positions with a large company, Kammerer had worked for several years as a case manager and outreach worker with homeless youth. She observed a common theme: Many of her clients found jobs, but lacked the skills to maintain them. And she wanted to help.

Since establishing a mobile coffee cart together in 2017 that visits farmers markets and can be booked for corporate, parish and other events, the two business partners through Wildflyer Coffee have helped 13 youths and young adults, high-school age and older.

They hope to open a retail space in Minneapolis, perhaps this summer, to serve more customers and employ more youths. Right now, they employ two during the winter months and four during the busier summertime. With a retail shop, they could employ about a dozen at a time, Griswold said.

Both Christians, Griswold and Kammerer said their faith informs their work, but their work does not include evangelization.

“For many youths, that’s a very difficult thing to get their heads around. We decided early on to make our efforts” independent of anyone’s particular faith tradition, Griswold said.

“It informs my worldview,” Kammerer said, “what we do with the homeless. It’s a motivating factor.”

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The state of homelessness and housing in Minnesota

This is the final installment of The Catholic Spirit’s four-part series on homelessness and affordable housing in Minnesota. The series began Feb. 7, 2019, by highlighting Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ Higher Ground initiatives in both cities. It continued May 16 with a look at the record number of people without a home in the state, and ways parishes help provide temporary shelter, affordable housing and meet other needs. An Oct. 24 report detailed efforts to create affordable housing in the suburbs and the way faith-filled Catholics step up in their communities as advocates for those searching for a home.