Supporting Local Social Enterprises

At Café 180, 100% of proceeds go directly toward feeding people who experience food insecurity. Since its founding in 2010, this Englewood, Colorado, restaurant has served more than 200,000 meals to people in need. 

Gift Ideas from Café 180 include:

• Gift cards
• Cooking classes
• Gathering friends and family and making memories by volunteering together

Denver’s SAME (So All May Eat) Café operates with a participation model where guests volunteer time, donate money or give produce in exchange for a healthy, locally sourced, made-from-scratch meal. Each guest can give from their abundance to create community through healthy food access.

Gift Ideas from SAME Café include:

• Gift cards
• Donating meals to honor someone you know, or to feed someone you don’t
• Gathering friends and family and make memories by volunteering together
• Purchasing items from the wishlist

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, just 31.4% of adults ages 16–64 with a disability are currently employed compared to 72.5% of adults the same age without a disability. DIRT (Divergent Inclusive Representation Transforms) Coffee Bar works with neurodivergent individuals, employers and communities to diminish the inequitable employment rate. GSSW alumna Catharina Hughey, MSW ’18, is the organization’s executive director.

Gift Ideas from DIRT include:

• Fund a specific need
• Purchasing coffee mugs and other merchandise
• Gift cards

EarthLinks cultivates transformation and self-worth for people experiencing homelessness and poverty. Through Earth-centered programs, EarthLinks participants step out of isolation and into community — restoring each other and the planet. Participants do organic gardening and create Earth-friendly products and are paid an hourly stipend for their work.

Gift Ideas from EarthLinks include:

• Skincare and body products
• Local honey
• Handmade candles
• Jewelry made from upcycled materials

Founded in 1989 by GSSW alumna Jossy Eyre (MSW ’86), the Women’s Bean Project aims to change women’s lives by providing steppingstones to self-sufficiency through social enterprise. They hire women experiencing chronic unemployment and work together to break down the barriers they face. Program participants receive full-time pay as they develop job readiness skills, discover their talents and break the cycle of poverty.

Gift Ideas from Women’s Bean Project include:

• Soup mix
• Mixes for baked goods such as cornbread and brownies
• Spice blends