As soon as the pandemic hit, just months after getting married, my husband and I both lost our jobs within days of each other. I was a pastor of a local church, and my husband, Brandon, was a healthcare worker. This brought on serious financial trouble, forcing us to vacate our home and move in with my mother-in-law. I soon found myself filling in temporarily at another church, and Brandon tried his hand at selling cars. We knew we were in need of something more permanent, and after about 6 months, the possibility was put before to open our own coffee shop. We began asking questions out of curiosity, and suddenly it became a conversation about how we could bring our business to fruition. Brandon had coffee shop experience and has always wanted to own a business, and I brought my own coffee shop experience plus my Communication degree from Houghton. After much prayer, and with the help of good friends who owned another local business in town, we decided to take a leap of faith and go for it – and well, we’ve been open for seven months now!

From the beginning we wanted to be more than just a coffee shop. Being people of faith who’ve struggled with depression and anxiety, we wanted to be a place where people could come and genuinely be LOVED, to be SEEN, to be HEARD, and to be APPRECIATED. We wanted to be a place that acknowledges people on not just their best days, but also on their worst days, and let them know that they are truly loved. As I like to say, we are “coffee with a purpose”!

Owned by Cana Roth (Class of ’09). Alumni discount available: 10% off!