NiiSa’s Story
Hello Wildflyer Coffee Blog readers!
My name is Derrek Christensen and I am the Program Manger for Wildflyer Coffee’s St. Paul location. I am a bit new to the blogging game but I want to invite you to join me in taking a bit of a “Wildflyer deep dive.” Right now, we are in the heart of training our Winter 2025 cohort and accepting applications for our Spring 2025 cohort. This point in the programming cycle can feel hectic but I keep returning to and finding solace in our program outcomes.
One moment where we clearly see the outcomes of Wildflyer Coffee’s Work & Life Skills program is graduation. Wildflyer program participants work and learn for four months; soaking up all the knowledge they can about coffee, customer service, and other stability focused activities. To recognize the hard work that goes into all of those learning-centered accomplishments, we do the only reasonable thing we can. Celebrate!
Graduation at Wildflyer Coffee is a private ceremony where baristas completing the program can connect with their fellow graduates, coworkers, support folks, and Wildflyer leadership. During this celebration graduates are presented with a certificate of program completion, share a meal, and hear some fantastic celebratory speeches! While the specific details of graduation are all fine and well, I was determined to get to the heart of what makes this time so special. To do so, I had a conversation with a graduate of our Fall 2024 cohort (NiiSa) about their time in the program.
NiiSa and I connected on the day of graduation and covered a variety of topics spanning from challenges to accomplishments to next steps. So, let's jump in!
NiiSa began the conversation by sharing with me about how they discovered Wildflyer Coffee. NiiSa shared:
“I found out about Wildflyer through a case manager I had at the time and he really wanted me to get back up on my feet. One way to do that is to have a job. He recommended Wildflyer because Wildflyer gives you the resources to get back on your feet.” This is consistent with how many of Wildflyer’s program participants discover our program. Wildflyer receives a number of applications every few months, employing up to 12 participants between our two locations. Wildflyer employs youth ages 16 to 24 with a variety of housing histories and work experiences.
Looking back to the start of the program, NiiSa shared that “When I first got here I definitely felt overloaded a little bit. But once they have a set schedule for you and have their youth meetings with you it starts to even out and you can figure out what times work for you. Everyone is understanding and patient and very kind hearted. So, I felt at ease the more I came into work.”
We find that consistency is so imperative to our program. Youth have the opportunity to learn about setting work availability, how to self-advocate and request schedule adjustments, and hold weekly youth meetings with our incredible team of Program Leads. In these meetings youth and Program Leads check in about topics like workplace performance, resource referrals, and even connecting over things like their favorite new drink!
Unfortunately this work does not happen in a vacuum. The importance of celebrating youth becomes even more poignant when we look honestly at the context homelessness & housing instability paints on the canvas that is our youth’s lives. NiiSa shares with me that, “(Youth homelessness) can happen to anybody. Absolutely anybody. It doesn’t matter where you are. It doesn’t matter what it is. It’s truly a silent killer, poverty in general. It’s a silent killer because those children fall through the cracks. It’s not easy to just “pick yourself up by your bootstraps” if you don’t have all the opportunities that an adult would have.”
Despite this harsh glimpse into youth homelessness–NiiSa wanted to leave me with a few lessons they learned that helped them to succeed with the opportunities they had while in the program.
“Lesson number 1: Take in the little things that you do because that is what’s going to give you the drive to do better for yourself. If I get up and I do everything that I need to do and I get to work on time. I feel like that’s an accomplishment for me. It makes me feel like I can finish the rest of my shift and I can do so well.”
Lesson number 2: “Another thing would be memorizing customer’s drinks. The smile that they have is like “Wow you remember!” and you share that kindness and understanding with other people who might not have a good morning. It makes them feel good and at least in my heart I feel good.”
Lesson number 3: For NiiSa, graduating from the program means that, “(they) can finish something!” She shares, “For a while my (mom) would say mean things to me. One of the things she would say that would stick to me was “You can never complete anything. You start something and then you stop. You're a failure” but using Wildflyer as a platform for personal development, NiiSa found that they have, “really made it a goal to finish something. Even if I’m tired or irritated or don’t want to look at anybody or I get a headache. I still finished it. Because there are plenty of times where I’m like “Screw it. If this person can drop out of the program, so can I. But I am proving to myself that I can do something.”
Capacity building, transferable skills, and empowerment. While the specifics look different for each youth in our program, these outcomes motivate the organization at all levels to continue the important work of our mission. NiiSa ends our conversation with one final story of success and it truly reminds me of why we do what we do.
NiiSa shares her biggest accomplishment:
“Moving into my place. When I moved into my place, it was just me and all this junk I had. My aunt was like “you have to pray over this house” so I got some oil and put some crosses over the windows and doors and I felt this weight lift off of my shoulders. This is what happened. I ordered a burrito, and, while I was waiting for that. I anointed my house. Then my burrito came. I ate my burritos and then I cried. I cried so hard. I cried until I couldn't cry anymore. Like I physically was shaking, I couldn’t cry anymore. That is my biggest win. The transition was (also) my biggest challenge. I do so much already. And I wasn’t worried about this job and this money. I had everything under control. I just needed to find a place to stay. And that alone was a challenge. I couldn’t focus on anything else. But then I turned my challenge into a win.”
Thank you for taking the time to read about this conversation! I am excited to continue this blog series and give folks an insight into our little slice of community engagement.
Bonus hot takes courtesy of NiiSa
“We need to have Strawberry Matcha on the menu. Scarlet lemonade should also be on the menu.”
“People should be more aware of the opportunities Wildflyer gives people. These are people who genuinely care about youth. Not just another program.”
The thing that I found that was most heart warming. Was (management), has a big heart and (management is) not a robot. (They are) human. You don’t see that a lot with managers.