After more than 5 years of planning, fundraising, and envisioning opening the HAS HEART Coffee Shop, the historic stone building is beginning to take shape with tile walls, flooring, and exterior patio work underway.
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 met over a cup of coffee, and despite continuous construction delays, we’re now 8-10 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 cornerstone of the coffee shop will be our espresso machine. Thanks to coffee partner, Madcap, we’re giving new life to a refurbished LaMarzocco Linea Classic Two-Group unit that was recently freshly powder coated in a desert tan layer by Custom Powder & Fabrication.
To be perfectly honest with you, it’s been a frustratingly slow process over the past month because we so badly wanted to open for Memorial Day. And now that that meaningful day has come and gone, we’ve been equally frustrated with the slow progress ever since.
Nonetheless, as slow as things have been going, we’re thankful that they’re still moving forward, day by day. Our next target opening is for July 4th, another special holiday for our country, but now even that target date may be outside the window of possibility.
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.
