Finding great coffee in Pasadena is easy. But every cup brewed at Rosebud Café on East Colorado Boulevard comes with a unique measure of hope. Coffee With a Cause, the social enterprise that runs Rosebud, is a training ground for at-risk youth experiencing foster care, homelessness or struggles with the justice system.
One of its biggest successes is Trinity Casey, 22. Growing up in Pomona, she struggled with depression and was living in transitional housing at Hillsides in Pasadena when she discovered Rosebud Café. By then, the initiative had grown from a coffee cart at Rose City Church to a storefront in a 99-year-old building.
“Trinity brought a lot of life to this space,” Coffee With a Cause founder Dan Davidson said. “She picked up coffee fast and is very gifted, we always enjoyed her happy personality.” So much so that Casey is the newest member of the nonprofit’s board of directors, which includes executives from Starbucks, a project partner.
Over a cup of her go-to cinnamon honey latte, Casey said she trained and worked at the café before moving on to a job at Starbucks in Koreatown, where she had found a studio apartment. She’s excited to use her story and perspective to help the cause. “I feel I have a lot to contribute,” Casey said.
“I’d love to be hands-on in training youth and giving them tools I learned here.” Also on the board is Jennifer Vanderpool, district manager at Starbucks. She said transformative partnership filled a gap in t.