FareStart’s Barista & Customer Service Program is growing and adapting to give more young adults in our community the support they need to enter the workforce with confidence. Enrollment and job placements have more than doubled since June 2024. Some employers are so eager for new hires, they’re making job offers before students graduate.
That was true for Caphi (she/her), who had applied to more jobs than she could count after moving across the country with help from a friend who gave her a place to stay. Most applications went nowhere. The few employers who did respond thanked her for applying but said they’d already filled the position.
Caphi wondered how she was going to come up with the money to move into her own place. She was feeling down and out, until she heard about FareStart from her roommate’s mom.
“I was at the end of my rope,” said Caphi. “I decided I’m just gonna give it a try. If this doesn’t work out, then it wasn’t meant to be.”
Extra Week Allows for Three Phases of Training
FareStart’s Barista & Customer Service Program is open to low-income young adults in King County, age 18-24, who face barriers to employment such as food insecurity, housing instability or involvement with the criminal legal system.
Trainees learn how to brew coffee and espresso drinks, build resumes, get support searching for jobs and practice interviewing. They hone transferable life skills and work closely with a case manager who lines up support for basic needs like housing, food, healthcare and transportation.
Caphi enrolled in March 2025, not long after the program was extended from eight weeks to nine, allowing training to be divided into three phases, including a new one focused on front-of-house customer service:
1. BARISTA BASICS & LIFE SKILLS: Students start by learning coffee and espresso fundamentals, as well as life skills with a focus on self-empowerment, computer literacy and financial literacy.
2. FRONT-OF-HOUSE SERVICE: Next, they get real-world practice bussing tables, delivering food and water to guests, making coffee drinks at the counter, and running the cash register at the FareStart Restaurant.
3. HIGH-VOLUME CAFÉ SERVICE: The first six weeks prepare them for the brisk pace of the final three, when they serve a steady flow of customers at the FareStart Café in the lobby of Amazon’s Houdini North office building in South Lake Union.
The front-of-house training gives students an opportunity to practice customer service skills and learn about the full café experience, preparing them for a larger range of jobs down the line.
“You learn how to handle back-to-back orders,” Caphi said. “It’s very hands-on and high-pressure. It was very motivating.”
Social Media Skills, Job Fairs and More
Another addition to the program focuses on communication and social media marketing, increasingly important skillsets in the modern workforce. Students create a social media post promoting the best drink they can make, record a short video and design a customer feedback form.
“We’ve heard a lot from our students that they want to start their own business someday,” Carman (she/her), Associate Director of Program Operations. “This is a great way for them to learn how to market their business.”
Monthly job fairs give Barista & Customer Service Program students a chance to meet directly with potential employers. Sometimes they interview and get job offers on the spot. Whatever the outcome, students rave about the job fairs.
“They are so pumped and so excited, because either way, they have applied for a job, interviewed for a job or landed a job,” Carman said.
Supporting Students for Success and Self-Confidence
More than 1,400 youth and young adults have gone through barista and customer service training at FareStart since the program’s inception in 2003. Caphi started working as a barista at the CapitalOne Cafe in South Lake Union in April and is loving it.
“I’m paid well enough to actually be able to afford rent,” Caphi said. “My coworkers are fantastic. They’re some of the best people I’ve ever met.”
Caphi credits her FareStart trainers and case manager with helping her push past the self-doubt and believe that she could find a community and workplace where she could feel a sense of belonging, accomplishment and stability.
She has these words of advice for any young person struggling to find the right path: “The only way to get your foot through the door is to just take that first step. Even if the idea of trying alone is paralyzing, the only way to move forward is to just start.”
To see Barista & Customer Service Program students in action, visit the FareStart Restaurant or FareStart Café. Know of someone who we be a good fit for the program? Encourage them to apply today.
