The coffee industry has been working to help people find work when they leave prison. I Have a Bean, a coffee roaster in Illinois, helped Duke Dalke find gainful work eight years ago. Underground Ministries in Washington state works with a farm in Honduras and Fidalgo, a regional coffee brand, to run Underground Coffee. New York City’s Department of Corrections and Procreate Coffee in Brooklyn runs a barista training program on Rikers Island for inmates who’ve been infraction-free for at least 30 days. Starbucks, the world’s biggest coffee shop chain, began omitting the mandatory criminal history box on job applications in 2015. And around the US, dozens of independent coffee shops are designed to employ former inmates.

Read Full Story


More: