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FOAM NEWS STEAMING UP AROUND THE COFFEE WORLD AT HAPPY CUP, COFFEE IS A VEHICLE FOR CREATING OPPORTUNITY A new Portland, Ore., coffee roaster, Happy Cup Coffee Company, is taking the principles of the third wave and adding its own twist. In addition to making sure its coffees support coffee farmers, Happy Cup is using coffee to improve the lives of people with developmental disabilities who are unemployed. Happy Cup is a venture of Full Life, a company that provides occupational and recreational opportunities for people with disabilities. Rachel Bloom, a former high school special education teacher, founded Full Life 12 years ago because she thought she could do more good in the private sector than in the public sector. Full Life trains its clients and helps them find work with outside businesses. The company has a janitorial staffing program, a commercial flower garden, a computer tech support team, and now a coffee company, Happy Cup. Finding employment for people with disabilities is a difficult challenge. When the economy is doing well, people with developmental disabilities have a tough time finding good jobs, and when the economy is doing poorly, it can be nearly impossible. According to the Oregon State Office of Developmental Disabilities Services (ODDS), the unemployment rate for people with disabilities is around 78%, making the national unemployment rate of approximately 8% seem upbeat. Much of Full Life's funding is provided by state and federal government through contracts with Medicaid. When governments try to rein in their budgets, money for programs like Full Life tends to shrink or disappear. Determined to maintain Full Life's mission in the face of funding uncertainty, Bloom decided to start Happy Cup to provide an outside source of funding for Full Life. "All of the profits from Happy Cup will go back to our vocational program and others like it," she explained when I visited her at Happy Cup's Northeast Sandy Boulevard headquarters. PARTNERING WITH MR. GREEN BEANS Having never worked in coffee, Bloom knew she did not have enough experience to start her own coffee company, so she went looking for help. She found the person she needed in Trevin Miller, owner of Mr. Green Beans, a home-roasting supply store on North Mississippi Avenue in Portland. Miller was planning to start a roaster-incubator to help small café owners and entrepreneurs who want to roast their own coffee but cannot spend $20,000 or more on a commercial roaster of their own. However, Miller did not have a location to set up his roaster. Bloom seized the opportunity and offered Miller the use of Happy Cup's headquarters. In exchange for the space, Miller supplies his roaster and his knowledge of coffee. Miller also sources the beans and roasts them. His sourcing philosophy is typical of a third wave coffee company. Said Miller, "We stick with socially and environmentally responsible coffees. They're not all organic or Fair Trade, because those things have their own challenges, but they all meet some sort of certification. For example, the Brazil is a farm-direct coffee. The El Salvador is a farm-direct coffee, and a lot of components of the blends are organic or Fair-Trade certified. We want to do things right for the environment and people in general. " Currently, Miller roasts early in the mornings so that he can get back to his own shop in time to open. Because of this, he does not have much contact with the Full Life clients who work at Happy Cup. "Hopefully, going forward we can change that, goal is to try to include their clients in as many aspects as possible." PROVIDING REAL JOBS AND GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES Full Life clients are not yet involved in roasting the coffee, but so far, they have been trained to put labels on the bags, stamp the bags with the roast date, weigh the coffee, seal the bags, and pack them into cases for transport. Happy Cup staff members try to match the clients with jobs they can perform. Damian Magista, director of operations at the time of my visit, said the goal is to push people to stretch their capabilities. "We gear the job to where each person's ability lies," he said. "What's it is also challenging. People need to be challenged, important is that within a certain range. No one gets satisfaction from not being challenged. Whatever we're doing, we all like to learn, and through that learning there is a challenge. " Bloom emphasized that the company is a real business, not a charity. Happy Cup pays its workers minimum wage, giving them more dignity and independence. "The clients are doing work that we would otherwise need to hire outside workers for," she said. Nate Mackie, a Full Life client who works at Happy Cup, likes his job. "It's fun," he said. "When you are learning something new, you're excited, and it's just a lot of fun to work here. " Mackie has been involved with Full Life for about two years. Besides giving him something fun to do, working at Happy Cup also provides Mackie the opportunity to help others. "My particular role with Happy Cup is the packaging and helping others learn to do the stuff I do," he said. "I also grind. I put the stickers on the paper bags and stamp them from time to time as well. If someone needs help, if this new person comes here, I can say 'Hey, do you need my help with this?' A lot of people I can help about half the time. " Mackie has also learned some lessons through his job. "They've taught me how to work as a team, rather than as one person. I mainly enjoy it because it's fun," he said. "I'll just put it that way. What I like most about working here is the people, being able to learn different things. Like, eventually they want to help us learn how to roast the beans, so I'm kind of anxious for that one. " EARLY SUCCESSES After officially opening in mid-November, Happy Cup has shown early signs that it will be successful. The company recently began selling its coffee at local Whole Foods outlets. Getting the contract with Whole Foods was a " he said. "The ultimate