Heartbeat Café: Coffee for a brew-tiful cause
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It is not only trees in Canberra’s newest suburb of Whitlam that are setting down roots. So too is social enterprise Heartbeat Café.
We’ve all had that feeling in the pit in our stomach when we look at what should be an entry-level job listing—only to realise we actually need at least 12 months of experience.
Opening its doors in December, Heartbeat Café is an initiative between Woden Community Services and the Suburban Land Agency, providing young and vulnerable Canberrans with a safe place to bridge this skills gap and offer genuine entry-level opportunities.
“We see this as a real opportunity to take young and otherwise vulnerable people who are really struggling to find employment and help them in a supported environment,” says Woden Community Service’s Deputy CEO, Joe Colbert.
“We have created a place where people can learn real-life and tradeable skills and gain that elusive experience everyone’s looking for. Plus, who knows—maybe they’ll even work for one of our competitors one day.”
It’s not just their coffee skills that will be improved through pouring cups of goodness all day, either.
“We’ve also linked this to an adult education program where people can receive help learning literacy and numeracy and then the café is a landing ground for them to test out their new skills,” explains Joe.
“It gives them a chance to practice it in a commercial environment where they can develop the confidence and capability to use [these skills] fluidly.”
Nestled in the Whitlam Display Village, it’s Joe’s hope that Heartbeat Café will serve as a geographic anchor for the community.
“New suburbs are often filled with people who are completely new to Canberra and historically it has been hard to break into the Canberra culture, so we wanted to create a place that welcomes them to the culture and also develops a new one as well.”
“It’s not about indoctrinating people to fit into the Canberra culture but creating a place that is inclusive of everyone and creates a space where all feel welcome.”
THE ESSENTIALS
What: Heartbeat Café
Where: 3 Klaus Moje Street, inside the Whitlam Display Village
When: Monday to Friday from 7 am—3 pm, Saturday from 7 am—4 pm and Sunday from 9 am—4 pm
Images supplied by Suburban Land Agency
