Community Vision, Inc works to make Oregon a place where all people with disabilities can live, work, and thrive in whatever communities they choose. They offer a network of services, including supported living, homeownership, asset development, youth programs and employment services. For several years Nossa Familia has partnered with Community Vision to offer work to participants of their Employment Connections Program. This program pairs people with disabilities who are seeking employment and skill development with businesses who have a need for workers – the perfect match. In summer 2018 we opened our accessibility-minded Seven Corners Café in the new Seven Corners Collaborative building, Community Vision’s headquarters in Southeast Portland.

Since 2013 Nossa Familia has been working with p:ear, a non-profit dedicated to building positive relationships with homeless and transitional youth through education, art, and recreation. Nossa Familia facilitates the p:ear Barista School, which teaches youth the science and art of preparing and serving coffee. In addition to focusing on the tools necessary to become a barista, this eight-week course also incorporates significant job and life skills, identifies the students’ aspirations and self-defined goals, and provides them with resources upon graduation, including letters of recommendation and certification. Beyond just a creating a safe and welcoming environment for the youth, this program offers consistent, on-going mentorship and creative support. The p:ear barista school helps to build new patterns of behavior, break isolation, work to get kids off of dangerous dependencies, and create opportunities for economic gain and healthier lives.

Central City Coffee sourced, roasted and sold coffee as a means to support the mission of its parent organization, Central City Concern until January of 2021. They worked to provide solutions to ending homelessness and achieving self-sufficiency, including teaching transferable job skills to help formerly homeless individuals find and retain employment. Nossa Familia was proud to store and roast Central City's coffee, as well as donate production space in our roasting facility. We also partnered with them for events, and featured their coffee at our farmers markets and in the Nossa Espresso Bar.