Dear friends of Refuge,
I know that subject line sounds suspiciously like peer pressure. Actually I’d call it click bait, and I’m thankful you took it!
Someone recently told me that Refuge Coffee was “a gateway drug” to Clarkston. That comment reminded me of a suggestion someone made early on that we should ban selfie-taking with our barista trainees. At the time, this made sense, because there were indeed people and entire groups of them who visited Refuge just to “see the refugees.” But another staff member said, “Think about some of those selfie-takers [he paused here and mentioned a few]. They have become friends. Do we want to dismiss them all?”
This memory suggests the ubiquitous tension we face here, and it’s worth it to point out a few dangers to calling the low-commitment proximity to refugees and immigrants that Refuge creates a gateway drug. Another memory: when we first started, I got a text from one of our customers accompanied by a photo of a group of middle school girls dressed in short shorts and, wait for it, hijabs. I was appalled by this totally tone-deaf display, and I couldn’t get up to the shop quickly enough to take their leader aside and gently suggest that this was not respectful. That’s the danger of coming to Clarkston just to “see” something different. Everyone here is aware of this danger, and its flipside, a cynicism about “outsiders,” which is, of course antithetical to our stated mission of welcome for everyone. We are all on a learning curve.
Yes, the dangers are real. But (and this conjunction is weighty, so please take note of it), what if the 1.5 million+ customers we’ve served since we began never started out as consumers? What if the 6000 people, new and old Americans alike, who visited our events last year never showed up? What if the 150+ volunteers stayed home? What if the resettlement agencies and nonprofits who frequent our shop in Clarkston never connected with our trainees or with you? What if no one took the drug?
I suspect most of those who come to Clarkston for a taste of this coffee-tasting drug or rather (my favorite metaphor) for a “first date,” come with a desire to do something about the refugee crisis.
The refugee crisis is massive, so don’t want to inflate our importance. We just make coffee, after all… you know how true and untrue that statement is. We put the statement MORE THAN GOOD COFFEE on our trucks for a reason. We invite you and others to be a part of that more.
At Refuge, if you linger a while, you can figure out what it means to do more; whether it’s simply sharing a slice of your social capacity here instead of in your own neighborhoods or joining us in our mission in some way. Maybe those first coffee dates become a path to activism and advocacy elsewhere. Or a new vocation of caring you didn’t know you had in you.
More, for some of you simply means you choose our coffee in order to support us. For some of you, it means you give. Some of you have volunteered for us or for one of the many organizations that do good work here in Clarkston and beyond. For others, it means you network with and for our trainees in a long game that makes it possible for Ahmad to open a business, Danait to sell houses, and Zara to buy a house nearby!
Grateful for you,
Kitti
P.S. – My three daughters-in-law joke that part of becoming a member of our family meant they each had to run a half-marathon with me! (Maybe this form of socializing—hazing?!—is why I’m getting my other hip replaced two days after our 5k—built-in karma!?) I understand that running isn’t for everyone. But, really, our Refuge Run to Brew Hope does have something for everyone. It’s a fun first date, that I’d love for you to consider coming!
