Editor’s note: This article was originally published July 17th 2017.

Shyra started by making sandwiches. I know that.

She was trained on the espresso machine. She cleaned a grill, stocked supplies, closed the till. She said hello to customers and made eye contact.

Shyra is a barista at CafeWorks on Broadway. It’s her first job.

I know she is young. She has a two-year-old boy. I don’t know how she came to live in rent-controlled housing.

I am here because I want to know: what can people do when you give them hope?

Brad Blanchard and Cody Wangner are sweating in the sun.

Brad is bent over in the back of a pickup truck on Broadway. He’s wearing a bright orange vest and shoveling bark into a wheelbarrow. Cody dumps the filled wheelbarrows into a landscaped area next to the HopeWorks station.

It’s 85 degrees on a Friday afternoon. Cars shimmer. Heat waves dance on the asphalt. The street smells like car exhaust and fresh blacktop.

These GroundWorks interns have been hustling bark since early in the morning. They’ve been all around Snohomish County already but they’re in good spirits.

I ask them if they have any quotes for an article about HopeWorks.

Brad doesn’t hesitate.

“Hard work forever pays,” he says. “Wiz Khalifa.” 

He hops back in the truck and keeps shoveling.

This is also the story of curated vintage furniture. A midcentury modern credenza with a built-in record player. It’s begging for a cocktail shaker and two martini glasses.

Red vinyl couches. Heirloom dressers. Suitcases.

Upscale, up cycled furniture. Available for purchase.

The HopeWorks Station on Broadway is home to three three social enterprises. A cafe, a landscaping business, and a home furniture store.

Social enterprises are a good model in the nonprofit sector. In my opinion, they’re a win-win-win.

Interns learn employment skills. They participate in a 12 week job training curriculum. They pour latte art. They trim bonsai trees. They “flip” end tables.

They practice soft skills, stage mock interviews, bulk up resumes. They have access to a job coach, a family support coach.

Some interns take classes at Everett Community College; courses in property management and food manufacturing. HopeWorks calls this program “eduployment.”

The interns provide goods and services for the community. Customers can buy these products or services.  A cup of coffee, an armoire. Customers’ money goes to HopeWorks, an arm of the nonprofit Housing Hope.

The community benefits from more jobs and fewer people sleeping on the streets. Win-win-win.

HopeWorks creates jobs with purpose. CafeWorks provides a third place for the community. RenewWorks keeps furniture out of landfills. GroundWorks helps people maintain their homes.

One employee at HopeWorks calls this a “powerful giveback ethos.”

Or, you know. Hard work forever pays.

I ask Shyra what she wants to do after working as a barista at HopeWorks.

A light comes into her eyes.

“I want to work at Starbucks. I want to start saving money some day. House with a yard, two dogs, a little girl.”

The last three things come out one right after the other: a yard, two dogs, a little girl. Each goal seems a little bigger than the goal before it.

What can people do when you give them hope? What can’t they do?

The HopeWorks Station is located at 3331 Broadway Ave. Everett, WA 98201.

They are open from 9-5, M-F. They are closed on weekends. 

Richard Porter is a musician. He lives in North Everett and enjoys running and biking in the city.