WHAT WE DO
OUR MODEL
STAGE ONE:
TRAINEE:
Accepted into our program but hasn't yet completed the Barista 101 Training
Prison inmates submit applications,
complete with resumes, to join the Coffee Crafters Barista Training Program.
STAGE TWO:
We review applications, conduct interviews, and extend offers to join our Program to qualified applicants.
STAGE THREE:
Trainees complete our Barista 101 Training
Course to become certified Baristas
in the specialty coffee industry.
BARISTA:
STAGE FOUR:
Completed Barista 101 Training and is currently working at one of our correctional facility cafes
Baristas then work at one of our cafes
operating inside a local prison to receive on
the job coaching and additional professional development opportunities.
STAGE FIVE:
Baristas graduate from our program
and are released from prison.
GRADUATE:
Barista with Coffee Crafters at some
point during their incarceration, finished
on good terms, and released from prison
STAGE SIX:
We continue to support our Graduates with transitional housing, job placement, and referrals to other social service providers.
STAGE SEVEN:
Pre-employment training, job placement
and access to wraparound services significantly decreases the chances
of returning to prison.
OUR PROGRESS
TO DATE:
2019:
2018:
Less than 5% recidivism rate within one year, compared to 43% national average
16 Baristas completed training and 9 Graduates released from prison
Saved over $143,000 in taxpayer dollars that would have been spent on incarceration
100% employment rate for Graduates within two months of release
19 Baristas completed training and 13 graduates released from correctional facilities
6 Catered events for community partners
More than 50 jobs created
More than 10,000 drinks sold
Partnered to open our first coffee shop outside of prison,
Third Way Cafe
OUR CAFE LOCATIONS
1. OHIO REFORMATORY FOR WOMEN (ORW)
1479 Collins Ave, Marysville, OH 43040
2. MARION CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION (MCI)
940 Marion-Williamsport Rd E, Marion, OH 43302
3. PICKAWAY CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION
(COMING SOON!)
11781 State Rte 762 #2, Orient, OH 43146
OUR FEATURES
THE NEW YORK TIMES
ARTICLE PUBLISHED DECEMBER 2019
"Incarceration is a dehumanizing experience. Working in a coffee shop helps the people inside remember how to interact in polite society. The for-profit work traditionally found in correctional facilities, like stamping license plates or making cheap clothing on an assembly line for 86 cents an hour, can’t do that. 'In some ways it’s just about restoring dignity. That’s really hard to do if you’re a robot on an assembly line with no windows working 10 hours a day,' said Nick Hirsch, director of the Coffee Crafters Academy, which operates barista classes in two Ohio prisons. 'But when you craft a drink, you have to have soft skills, customer interaction, that impacts your work.'”
BARISTA
MAGAZINE
ARTICLE PUBLISHED
OCTOBER 2017
"The [Coffee Crafters] Academy is thorough, demanding, and, yes, competitive: At time of press, 37 inmates were employed in the operation's cafes, and went through a rigorous hiring sequence before being given the proverbial keys to the shop."
NBC4 WCHMH-TV
COLUMBUS NEWS
REPORT PUBLISHED APRIL 2017
"We just found that the coffee industry is one that we can leverage to teach them some of the more transferrable skills that they can use within any industry."
- Nick Hirsch, former Director of Coffee Crafters Academy
"Warden Jeffery Noble says about 70% of their inmates will eventually return to society. 'The better trained they [released inmates] are, the better prepared they are to return to society they are, the less likely they are to come back.'"
