Berkeley Coffee Shop To Give Refugees Barista Training

BERKELEY (CBS SF) -- A refugee who fled their homeland fearing persecution could be serving you your next morning coffee.

A new coffee shop opening this summer in Berkeley aims to train, hire, and assist refugees resettling in the Bay Area.

1951 Coffee Company, a non-profit organization founded by two former International Rescue Committee staff members, wants to help "give refugees being resettled in the San Francisco Bay Area assistance in starting their new lives through training and employment in the rapidly expanding coffee industry," according to the specialty coffee organization's website.

Already, barista training, in accordance with specialty standards, is underway.

The organization's founders, Rachel Taber and Doug Hewitt, not only want to give refugees and asylum seekers job training and employment, but they also hope to educate the community about the lives and issues of refugees, which is where the coffee shop comes in.

Starting summer 2016, the public will be able to support refugees just by ordering a cup of specialty coffee, at the 1951 Coffee Company's soon-to-open cafe.

"It takes a community to make successful refugee resettlement possible," the organization's website states.

The organization takes its name from the year that the United Nations first defined and set guidelines for the protection of refugees: 1951.

Bay Area cafes looking to hire a refugee who has undergone training with 1951 Coffee Company can request more information here.

By Hannah Albarazi - Follow her on Twitter: @hannahalbarazi.