Wildflyer Coffee

Thank you so much to our community–y’all came through for us and together, 160 individuals raised $14,545 for Wildflyer! Your support helps us continue creating dignified employment opportunities, a safe and inclusive community, and support services and connections for young people experiencing homelessness in the Twin Cities. Thank you!!! Our Give to the Max Day fundraising page is still open if you’d like to fill our cup a little more! Donate at https://lnkd.in/eDzeB7r.

Thank you to Fox 9 Morning News, GiveMN, & Se Kwon for spending some time with us at Wildflyer Coffee this Give to the Max Day! Learn more about our campaign at https://lnkd.in/gREjFzwi and make donations to all your favorite nonprofits & schools at givemn.org.

We have the best team–from our Baristas, Senior Baristas, Program Leads, Program Managers, Shop Managers, and all the rest of us too! Make your Give to the Max Day gift in support of our community that comes together with a common vision of ending youth homelessness for good. In a 2023 study on homelessness, Amhert H Wilder Foundation learned that early intervention is key–when surveyed, 52% of unhoused adults first experienced homelessness before the age of 24. We are demanding that our young people deserve better than to become another statistic. Let’s show up for them today, and make a donation in support of dignified employment for Twin Cities youth who have experienced homelessness. Visit https://lnkd.in/gREjFzwi to help us reach our Give to the Max Day fundraising goal by 11:59pm this Thursday 11/21! . . . #GiveMN #GiveToTheMax #GiveToTheMaxDay #EndYouthHomelessness #GTMD24

Show up not only for the movie, but in support of youth who want to share their story with you. This Thursday, our Give to the Max Day film screening at Trylon Cinema will begin with a short biographical film by one of our talented youth baristas, and will conclude with a Wildflyer youth panel–you’ll hear from young people as they share their perspective on the film, and share their own insight on youth homelessness in the Twin Cities. American Street Kid is a powerful documentary film that follows young people living unhoused in Los Angeles in 2018. Their stories will shift perspectives, start conversations, and will change you. Get your tickets now–all proceeds go toward Wildflyer’s Give to the Max Day fundraising goal and support dignified employment opportunities for youth experiencing homelessness. https://lnkd.in/gSvuKfuV . . . #GiveMN #GiveToTheMax #GiveToTheMaxDay #EndYouthHomelessness #GTMD24

Today we met with Zamya Theater to go over a site plan for their performance of A Challenge to Change, which we’ll be hosting at our St. Paul shop (1362 W 7th St) on Tuesday, December 17. Be sure to save the date! Both zAmya Theater and Wildflyer Coffee create opportunities for individuals who have experienced homelessness in the Twin Cities. While Wildflyer creates dignified employment opportunities for young people experiencing homelessness, “zAmya believes that theater can change the narrative of homelessness. zAmya’s performances grow from stories lived by participants and crafted by their core artistic members. zAmya shares them because they know that if we want to unravel the crisis, then we have to unravel the story.” To learn more and get your Free / Pay-What-You-Can / Donation-based ticket, head over to bit.ly/achallengetochange.

https://lnkd.in/deu5Ef_4 November is Homeless Youth Awareness Month and in our November Newsletter we're sharing ways you can get involved by showing up for us and the young people we work with at Wildflyer!

Stop in this week, grab a latte, and learn about Homeless Youth Awareness Month. This November, some of our recent graduates are sharing in their own words what they want people to know about youth homelessness. Stop by our shops and read some of their stories. Minneapolis // 3262 Minnehaha Ave // St. Paul // 1362 7th St W . . . #EndYouthHomelessness #HomelessYouthAwareness #HomelessYouthAwarenessMonth #Wildflyer #WildflyerCoffee

November is Homeless Youth Awareness Month and we recently talked with some of our cohort about youth homelessness. We think it’s important to speak openly and honestly about this often overlooked issue in our society and right here in our Twin Cities community. One of our youth baristas, now a graduate, Shawn, shared, “People don’t think about what [individuals who are homeless] have to go through every day. It has to do with survival. There’s this fear-inducing feeling of being outside when it’s really cold. And that feeling of not knowing when you’re going to get warm again and if you’re going to stay that way. And, for any other person, that doesn’t concern them, because they know that when they go outside, they’re going from Point A to Point B, because they know there’s a destination at the end. For homeless people, there is no destination at the end, and they’re stuck and they have to find the B destination.” . . . #EndYouthHomelessness #HomelessYouthAwareness #HomelessYouthAwarenessMonth #Wildflyer #WildflyerCoffee

OK, so sometimes we go about coming to work every day, working alongside incredible young people, feeling super grateful to have such an awesome team, and we need reminders to stop and celebrate all the incredible things we’re up to and the impact all this has on our community. This past month, Wildflyer was presented the Innovation Award from the MN Council of Nonprofits and we couldn’t be more proud in our own, humble way. The Innovation Award recognizes creative applications and nontraditional approaches to solving community challenges. Wildflyer was recognized for bringing creative solutions to community challenges, employing a variety of strategies in developing solutions, and collaborating with other nonprofit organizations, businesses, and governmental agencies in our efforts. We don’t often shoutout ourselves, but today, we’re celebrating and giving ourselves a pat on the back for what we’ve accomplished. Thank you to our fellow nonprofit members who recognized our innovation! Pictured here is our leadership team accepting the award.

November is Homeless Youth Awareness Month and we want you to gain a better understanding of what that means to the young people who participate in our Work & Life Skills Training Program. When asked what is important for people to know about youth homelessness, our youth barista, soon to be graduate, Anisa, shared, “That most of us are not on drugs, most of us aren’t criminals, most of us haven’t stolen anything from a store in our lives. It’s the whole blame of homelessness in general, not just youth homelessness, but blaming a person in general for their situation is not OK. I hope that me saying this shifts someone’s mind or their opinion on it, because it’s all about your situations. Anything can happen to anyone. I could easily be you, you could easily be me. Especially with youth homelessness, most of us are homeless or have experienced homelessness, because we are trying to run away from something, whether that’s a bad relationship, bad families, or abusive situations in general, we shouldn’t be judged or shunned for trying to survive.” . . . #EndYouthHomelessness #HomelessYouthAwareness #HomelessYouthAwarenessMonth #Wildflyer #WildflyerCoffee