After more than 5 years of planning, fundraising, and envisioning opening the HAS HEART Coffee Shop, the historic stone building has been updated with new plumbing systems, HVAC and A/C units, electrical, and an efficient open floor plan.
For the past 10+ years, we’ve only had 1-month pop-up shops and exhibits to share our mission, showcase the HERO[series] projects and VOICES projects, and generate revenue to fund the next year’s project. We’ve relied on a small team of volunteers and have kept our liabilities and expenses to a minimum.
More than 12 years after our founders, Michael and Tyler, met over a cup of coffee, we’re about 14-16 weeks away from serving our own coffee (via Madcap Coffee Co.) within a historic building on the grounds of Veterans Memorial Park in downtown Grand Rapids, MI.
The last few weeks have been focused on finishing up the important stuff behind the walls, below the floors, and above the ceilings. Once the plumbing, electrical, and HVAC systems were done, the drywall and patching up of the plaster walls started to form the space for the first time.
While there is still plenty more work to be done, none of this would be possible without the help of several partners, organizations, foundations, and individual contributors, including:
Grand Rapids Parks and Recreation
Downtown Development Authority
Grand Rapids Community Foundation
Pfeiffer-Lincoln Foundation
Michigan Arts & Culture Council
Anonymous Donor
For more updates, be sure to follow HAS HEART on Instagram and Facebook, sign-up for our newsletter, and bookmark the Coffee Shop page for more info over the coming months.
