A West Michigan non-profit is getting closer to opening up a coffee shop to be an inclusive, safe and creative space for veterans to share their stories. [HAS HEART] needs a little extra help to reach their goal.
The City of Grand Rapids contributed half of the funds for the $500,000 goal to convert a nearly hundred-year-old building in Veteran's Memorial Park into a coffee shop for veterans, artists and the community to come together.
"Stories are what unite us," [HAS HEART] Co-Founder and Executive Director Michael Hyacinthe says. "Specifically, we're living in a day and age where not a lot of people serve in the military because there is no longer a draft so the connection between military and civilian gets further and further apart."
One day soon, Hyacinthe and Tyler Way want the building at the park to be the center of storytelling because of that disconnect. About 10 years ago, they started [HAS HEART], a non-profit to connect local veterans with artists to tell their stories visually, using ArtPrize as a way to get it all out there.
"When you can add a visual in there to grab attention, I think they can experience a veteran's story in a different way," Co-Founder and Creative Director Tyler Way says.
The two met over a cup of coffee, and now they want a coffee shop to continue to connect veterans, artists and the community.
"The coffee shop has been kind of percolating for years now, pun intended," Way says. "All of our projects just naturally start with a cup of coffee."
The non-profit needs $100,000 to reach their fundraising goal for renovations for the nearly century-old building that's mainly been used as office space.
"There's probably a better and a higher use (for the building)," Parks and Recreation Department Director David Marquardt says.
He says they're looking forward to the partnership with [HAS HEART]. The non-profit would lease the space while the city would still own the building.
"Really, it's providing inspirational and experiences to the community," Marquardt says. "We see what [HAS HEART] would like to do with veterans and art and be more public facing to the community with their work as a direct opportunity for us to elevate our own mission of those experiences."
As a U.S. Navy Veteran himself, Hyacinthe knows the importance of their vision personally.
"What's really neat as a veteran, I'm truly inspired by the support the city of Grand Rapids has provided us, but we can't do it alone," he says.
To help their mission, individuals and corporations can visit their website. The non-profits founders are hoping to open up by Memorial Day of 2022, in collaboration with Madcap Coffee Company serving up the drinks.
►Make it easy to keep up to date with more stories like this. Download the 13 ON YOUR SIDE app now.
Have a news tip? Email news@13onyourside.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter. Subscribe to our YouTube channel.