Coffee Connection / Project Empower

Coffee Connection is a nonprofit organization empowering women in recovery from addiction, trauma, and incarceration in Rochester, NY. When you donate or visit the Coffee Connection cafes, you are contributing to comprehensive and continuous support to help sustain each woman in her recovery as she moves toward economic self-sufficiency. Your donation goes directly toward our ability to help the women in our program build a much-needed support system, step closer to financial freedom, and gain new career skills that will be utilized when they graduate from the program or go on to another job or for more education. Many of the women at the Coffee Connection haven't been able to hold a job before recovery and faced extreme poverty due to the stigma of addiction and the criminal background that often comes with it. Coffee Connection wants to help lift that stigma for the benefit of our community by offering career-minded support for those who have chosen the path to recovery. Coffee Connection has two stores. Our original shop where we roast all our fair trade, organic coffee is in the South Wedge at 681 South Avenue (open from 9:00 to 3:00, closed on Sunday). Our newest shop is on the food court at the Marketplace Mall in Henrietta. Come in the West Mall exit, and we are the 4th store on the right (open during all mall hours, 7 days a week). Founded in 2001, the Coffee Connection merged in 2011 with Project Empower (and managed by the nonprofit organization, Life Listening Resources). It is a trauma-based recovery program teaching life practices which empower women to live into their full potential. Women in the program staff the wholesale and retail business of selling fair trade, organic coffee and a healthy menu of food prepared in our own kitchen. At our original store in the South Wedge (681 South Avenue, Rochester NY 14620), we roast our own coffee, offer a classic coffee shop for customers, and house our business office. We are now at the Marketplace Mall in Henrietta, NY on the food court, where we have our kitchen and a coffee shop with a food menu (which you can access on our website). We also sell our coffee at wholesale prices to businesses, agencies, and faith-based organizations. And we offer catering services. According to the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, it's been proven that women in recovery benefit from sustained connections, open and honest communication, and learning techniques for self-care. Coffee Connection fosters these ideals and more with weekly group meetings, ongoing and consistent support, and continuing dedication to each employee's recovery journey. Women in recovery have more than just addiction to overcome. Your donation will directly impact our ability to empower women as they move towards a life of freedom from addiction and reliving past pain, while contributing back into our community as so many of our alumni have.

We focus on: Community Benefit and Economic Development, Human Services

Where we are: Monroe