EVERETT, APRIL 11: The unassuming entrance behind the Sno-Isle Food Co-op distinctly lacks any signage. How do people know where the Everett Recovery Café is? According to Program Administrator Jackie Bryant, they really don’t need to spend any money on a sign; all of their guests have spread the word on their own.
Everett Recovery Café is a nonprofit that focuses on community healing by empowering long-term transformation through human connection. Café Executive Director Kyle Roscoe said that the café is open for all types of recovery, not just addiction.
As of 2024, their membership has grown to 945 with more than 19,700 meals served.
To celebrate their 10th anniversary, the Café hosted the Step In! open house Saturday, April 5. Guests were greeted by a brightly lit space filled with artwork, photographs, coffee, food, and a whole lot of positivity.
“The truth is, there are a thousand ways, a million ways to recover and the café embraces the idea that everybody can be recovering from something different, but the feelings are the same and we can help find the right way for you to recover through really simple stuff…,” Roscoe said.
The Everett Recovery Café is a part of the nationwide Recovery Café Network, but it was one of the first developed after the program started and took off in Seattle.
It began in 2015 when founder Wendy Grove discovered a small house in Everett to be modeled after the Seattle café. In 2018 the café moved temporarily to Everett’s United Church of Christ. Now, they are in their current location, 1212 California St, on the lower level of the old public market building.
The space boasts enough room for several private counseling offices, a stage for the performing arts, a small computer lab, a full-sized kitchen, a coffee stand and group meetings.
The goal of the Step In! Café open house was to welcome community members who may have never heard of the organization and introduce them to the programs and activities that they offer.
Recovery Café offers multiple different programs to help on the road to recovery. The most common are “Recovery Circles”. Attendance to at least one of these meetings is required to have a membership.
A unique program is the Barista Training Program which provides training to put a member back into the workforce. Upon completion of the program, trainees receive a certification of completion.
“We not only act as a resource ourselves, but we act as a bridge from somebody who may need a resource to finding the next one,” Roscoe said.
The café offers teaching to become a certified Recovery Coach. Through the Connecticut Community for Addiction Recovery (CCAR) model, people can receive training to do one-on-one coaching.
A Recovery Coach can assist others with recovering from substance abuse, mental or physical health issues by acting as a personal guide and mentor. The Everett location currently has 15-20 recovery coaches. Oftentimes, from the program become Recovery Coaches themselves.
Roscoe said that this year the café will be focusing more on fundraising opportunities to help the café grow and spread awareness.
Their next event is “Walk with Us” May 16-17, their spring fundraiser. The event will allow people in the community to experience a day in the life of a Recovery Café member.
The café is mainly funded through state grants, but the CCAR program is entirely federally funded Roscoe said.
“Right now, we don’t know what we are going to be told tomorrow about Recovery funds. The one thing we do know is organizations like ours and a lot of our partners save the government a lot of money and we do good work…” Roscoe said.
