Hart City Coffee provides hands-on job training and real-world work experience for students in Elkhart Community Schools. The program, part of the district’s young adult initiative, focuses on preparing students with disabilities for employment, independent living, and community involvement.
"Hart City Coffee is a component of our young adult program here with Elkhart Community Schools,” said Lindsey Cox, Supervisor of Special Programs. “The whole goal of the entire young adult program is to promote young adults ages 18 to 22 with opportunities to continue their learning in employment, independent living, and being involved in the community. The program is focused on supporting students with disabilities, and what we want to make sure we’re doing is providing meaningful work-based opportunities that ultimately turn into full-time or partial paid employment."
The program began in 2018 when staff examined employment rates for people with disabilities and found that only 17% of individuals in this group were employed. That discovery led to brainstorming ways to create meaningful opportunities for students.
"We started looking at opportunities to create our own business within the community,” Cox said. “We thought it would be a great training opportunity in order to start from square one, in terms of grinding coffee to packaging the coffee, to then marketing and selling the coffee. At that time, really, the dream was to open a storefront downtown and not just be coffee, but an entire student-run business."
The pandemic interrupted plans, as local businesses could no longer host students for on-site training. However, a grant from the Indiana Department of Education allowed the program to adapt.
"2020 is when we really started the coffee production,” Cox said. “We get beans from The Refinery in Goshen, and our students grind, package, and measure all of the products."
Students now operate a mobile coffee truck and manage production tasks like grinding and packaging beans. They also handle brewing and customer service while gaining skills such as ServSafe food safety certification.
"On the truck, we do brew the coffee, and typically we have anywhere from 4 to 6 flavors,” Cox said. “They are the roasted bean flavors. The students do all of the brewing of the coffee. They do all the supplies of what's on the truck, preparing it to take off and go on site somewhere. And they do all the cleanup procedures."
The program operates out of the Freshman Division building in the old Central High School, where students have access to classrooms, a kitchen, and a dedicated production area.
"In the young adult program, there is a space which is made up of about four classrooms plus a kitchen,” Cox said. “We have a dedicated production area for all of the coffee grinding, packaging, sealing, and storing. There is a website where anyone can go on and place an order."
Although the original dream of a downtown storefront remains on hold, the program continues to grow through its mobile coffee truck and production facility.
"I can still remember some of the students that participated,” Cox said. “The smiles that they had on their face, how proud they were to sport the gear of Hart City Coffee to hand that first cup to the mayor."
Community involvement plays a critical role in the program's success. Purchasing coffee beans, booking the coffee truck for events, or visiting the farmers market are ways to support Hart City Coffee.
"There are lots of ways for the community to support this program,” Cox said. “We are out at the farmers market on a weekly basis. So even if the truck is not present, supporting Hart City Coffee by buying our beans and highlighting the amazing things our students are doing."
For more information or to place an order, visit Hart City Coffee's website.
In full disclosure, Elkhart Community Schools holds the broadcast license for WVPE.
