Employment 'coffee-tunity' brews across the south-east
Employment 'coffee-tunity' brews across the south-east
13 April 2022
Emma (South East Employment Hub), Lieutenant Jessica Ffrost-Boyd, Andrew, Oliver, Martin (SERDA), and Craig doing the training with participant Kayla. Photo courtesy SERDA Facebook.
Give someone a cup of coffee and they are energised for the day. But teach them to make coffee and they gain confidence and skills for a lifetime of employment. That’s the premise of Coffee-tunity, the new mobile barista training program run by The Salvation Army in south-eastern Tasmania and its partners.
Lieutenant Craig Boyd trains participant Leanne.
Corps Officers Lieutenants Craig Boyd and Jess Ffrost-Boyd came up with the idea of Coffee-tunity in 2020 after hearing about a rarely used coffee van being stored at Divisional Headquarters.
“Between us and our Divisional Support and Project Officer Bridget van de Kamp, the idea we had floating around was of it being used at a high school [for ministry], but we couldn’t get it off the ground, so we turned the table. Our goal is now to use it to help people gain long-term paid employment in the future,” Craig said.
After approaching the South East Regional Development Association (SERDA), the South East Employment Hub and CVGT (a disability employment service provider), the Salvos crafted Coffee-tunity into a community program, with backing from 2021 Red Shield Appeal funds.
The program is now up and running. The Salvos provide the van and coffee-making skills, while the South East Employment Hub supplies the trainees and other organisations donate the coffee cups.
In a 45-minute session, the barista-in-training learns how to make a great coffee, fix any mistakes, and most importantly, grow in confidence. And if they enjoy it, they can attend another course with a barista who specialises in latte art and presentation.
“We want to build a connection with people. This is about the conversations we are having with people. For young trainees, it’s about mentoring. For mature aged participants, we are talking about life,” Craig said.
Coffee-tunity is in its early days, and after a successful pilot in 2021, they have already seen nine participants come through the program. They have even brewed coffees and hot chocolates at the Sorell Cricket Club. Now, off and running (or brewing) for 2022, they are excited about how God is using this to transform lives.
“We’ve already had one person come through training who has secured a 20-hour-a-week traineeship. She got over the line because she was proactive in doing the training,” Jess said. “[Ultimately], we are giving the participants a safe space to be who they are.”
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