Coffee and Change A Mission to Assist Grassroots Organizations in Detroit.pdf
1. Coffee and Change
A Mission to Assist Grassroots Organizations in
Detroit
Malia Kah
2. My idea is inspired by Thread Creek Coffee. A
Nonprofit where all the sales of their coffee go to
their partnered nonprofit (Our Daughters
International) which aims to help put a stop to
human trafficking.
My idea is to create designated coffee trucks or
small shops in Detroit,
Aimed to help fund specific underserved
neighborhoods Grassroots organizations and
their mission for their neighborhoods.
These can be through small scale coffee shops
and coffee trucks.
3. Grassroots Organization
In Detroit
One of the unique things about
Detroit is there dedicated grassroots
organizations in specific
underserved neighborhoods. These
are organizations that are run by
those who live there. Meaning their
incentive is to help change their
communities from the inside through
their nonprofit.
4. Grassroots organizations are seen more
in the underserved neighborhoods of
Detroit.
Which have in many ways replaced their
own municipalities due to their local
municipalities and governmental policies
continuously failing or not
acknowledging their needs.
Grassroots organizations are often acting
as the backbone to their communities
Think back to our discussion on redlining.
5. How could this be done?
Thread Creek Coffee’s model: Cover
costs, pay fair wages, and then donate
rest in a way that’ll improve society.
Certain grassroots nonprofits would be
partnered or assigned to a coffee shop
or trucks location, where all proceeds
from the coffee’s profits would go
towards their organization.
6. Establishing Partnerships and Collaboration
My vision for this idea would be to create a
network of partnerships not just among
multiple grassroots organizations in Detroit,
but with hopefully a Detroit and Michigan
coffee company to participate in this
project.
Ideally, there would be michigan coffees
available, and coffee creations branded with
their names for recognition. So the
shop/truck would have a simple but
enjoyable michigan coffee selection. With
room to grow.
7. Employer
I think the number one “speerheader” of this project could be the
University of Michigan.
Semester in Detroit Program:
-Grassroots connections
-Wanting to be more community based and continuously working to
be fair and equitable to the city of Detroit
Student intern employees
8. Employment
Part of this mission could be to employ people from these
neighborhoods directly as to participate in the economic
sustainability and development of the neighborhood. Their pay could
then be considered part of that 100% proceeds go toward the
neighborhood of *fill in the blank*.
9. Community, Coffee, Change
The main idea of this project help Detroit
neighborhood grassroots organizations.
Many of these organizations have 5 to 10 year
plans for their neighborhoods, and acquiring
funds can be a difficult task compared to the
larger nonprofit organizations that are better
known or considered more “reputable”. This
would allow funding to what some might
consider smaller scale nonprofits, but are just
as important. This would give more
opportunity for these organizations to fulfill
their goals for their communities.
People enjoy coffee. Especially in Detroit, there
are many areas where this idea could do well.
