Early every Monday and Friday morning before the school day starts at Echo Glen Children’s Center, staff members line up at Café Success, ordering coffee, tea, and other drinks — all served up by graduates of a job training program FareStart launched last year.
Nearly 70 young people at the juvenile rehabilitation facility in Snoqualmie have taken part in the program since last February, when our pilot partnership with the Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) began.
Throughout the 10-week program, youth and young adults ages 13-25 work alongside FareStart staff, learning cafe and culinary basics, customer service skills, and so much more. They learn about communication, teamwork, self-advocacy, time management, and problem-solving skills. They practice writing resumes and interviewing for jobs and learn about jobs and career paths in food service and hospitality.
FareStart Barista trainer Nikole (she/her) is a 2017 graduate of our Barista & Customer Service Program. She was a sophomore in high school and experiencing homelessness when she enrolled. Two years later, after working at a local Starbucks while earning her GED, she returned to FareStart as a staff member.
“Once I turned 18, I was so determined to come back to FareStart,” Nikole said in a recent interview. “I worked with lots of great youth, then COVID hit,” and FareStart employees quickly pivoted to prepping emergency meals during the pandemic. In-person training for youth baristas resumed in early 2023.
Nikole loves working alongside young people like her, who have gone through traumatically tough times and embrace the opportunity to build self-confidence, prepare for jobs, and gain a sense of stability. Though she’s never experienced incarceration herself, Nikole has a way of connecting with trainees that helps them realize they are not alone, and they are not the sum total of their mistakes.
“I might not have been in a facility like this, but I have gone through struggles that are very similar to a lot of the kids,” Nikole said. “It’s incredibly rewarding to connect with them, to work next to them and say, human to human … ‘I see you.’”
Of all the young people she’s worked with over the past five years, Nikole said, “I’ve never seen FareStart have such a positive impact on a group of individuals as I’ve seen in this program.”
One young man who spoke at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for Café Success talked about how excited he was to be involved with the program. At first, he was most eager to gain culinary skills, then realized how much he enjoyed making drinks — especially smoothies, including a certain strawberry concoction that’s now named after him.
“It was really inspiring to hear him say, ‘I’ve never felt like I belonged anywhere,’” Nikole recalled. “‘I’ve had negative experiences on the outside, but now I feel like I belong here. I’m learning.’”
The young man now has his sights on going to college and working as a barista. When helping another student write a resume, Nikole remembers him starting out saying, “I can’t get a job. I have a criminal record.”
Her reply: “You might have made a mistake, but when I think of you, I see someone who’s a leader, someone who works well on a team, someone who has a good heart.” Seeing the look on his face fade from doubt to an unfamiliar sense of pride meant the world to Nikole.
“I’m so proud of every student who leaves with a new set of skills, to see them graduate with a new sense of ‘I can do that. If I can do this, I can do anything.’”
Nearly 1,800 young people in King County have taken part in FareStart’s job training programs over the years. Our partnership with Echo Glen supports early intervention career-connected learning opportunities and reflects our shared commitment to meeting young people where they are and helping them gain stability as they overcome barriers to employment.
2025 is the second year of a two-year pilot partnership with Echo Glen, which provides education, vocational training, treatment programs for substance use, and counseling for behavioral and mental health to young people sentenced to juvenile rehabilitation.
Special thanks to Caffe Vita which generously donates the coffee beans that residents use while learning skills. FareStart relies on support from people like you to run and expand job training programs like this. Learn how to get involved.
