Meeting Young People’s Needs with FareStart’s Youth & Young Adult Barista Program

Over the past 20 years, FareStart’s Youth & Young Adult Barista Program has helped more than 1,000 young people access job training and assisted in over 600 job placements in customer service with local retail, food service, coffee shops and other businesses.

Early in October, FareStart combined its Youth Culinary Program with the Youth & Young Adult Barista Program. Our transition is grounded in our students, who have shared they are most interested in gaining experience in the barista and customer service fields. This program adaptation will allow FareStart to continue to grow and better serve our students on their journey toward personal stability, job readiness and educational advancement.

FareStart’s Youth & Young Adult Barista Program will offer two tracks: Education Advancement and Job Readiness. Both tracks will cover:

• Self-empowerment training, including confidence and resiliency building
• Essential computer literacy and technology basics for today’s working environment
• Job preparedness, such as resume writing, mock interviewing and job search tips
• Professional performance-building, including being punctual, having a good attitude and accepting feedback
• Interactive customer service, cash handling experiences and employer presentations
• Financial literacy training, establishing banking and checking accounts, developing budgets and financial goals.

Program Tracks

Education Advancement Track

In partnership with Seattle Public Schools Interagency Academy the Education Advancement Track is designed for young people who are learning job skills while they are going to high school. Participants will receive training and a stipend along with earning high school credit.

Job Readiness Track

The Job Readiness Track, in partnership with Y Social Impact Center, is built around supporting the needs of young people to meet them where they are while providing resources on their pathway towards a job and stability. Participants will receive training and be compensated for their work.

FareStart has worked with the YMCA for many years to address food insecurity in our communities and is partnering to support more youth and young adults to break the cycle of poverty and homelessness.

Hear from one of our Youth & Young Adult Barista Program graduates, Omar (he/him) whose eagerness to learn, work ethic and dedication quickly made him stand out. Because of Omar’s outstanding performance and stellar attitude, he was selected to be an intern at MOD Pizza.

FareStart partners with MOD Pizza to offer graduates the opportunity to take part in MOD Pizza’s internship program. After the internship, they are granted an interview for permanent job placement at MOD Pizza.

FareStart also offers a variety of internships for graduates to support them on their journey toward personal stability, job readiness and educational advancement.

For the most up-to-date information, please visit the Youth & Young Adult Barista Program page on our website.

All training will remain virtual until FareStart can safely bring back students into the FareStart Cafés to provide a real-world training environment. FareStart anticipates in-person training resuming sometime in 2022.