An exciting venture has started in partnership with the Kingston campus of CCCD, where Deaf Can! Coffee was launched in March. It is a not-for-profit organization with the mission of empowering young men and women towards holistic development; via training (vocational/educational), business development, mentorship, advocacy and scholarship.

A successful caf� venture is not the goal itself, but a means by which others, both Deaf employees and patrons, can experience life changing truths and be compelled to go forward and be the best, for the Best.

What began as a small idea of packaging and selling coffee to ministry teams on behalf of a rural, Deaf farmer grew as word spread and people wanted more and more. However, one farmer could not meet the demand. Students then began roasting coffee at CCCD Kingston to train and expose teen students to the art of coffee roasting in the hopes that perhaps they would be interested in learning more. The challenges of sourcing dry beans and getting licensed in Jamaica as a coffee brand soon became a barrier that nearly stopped the initiative completely. The vision, however, has simply shifted from being all about roasting coffee to focusing on brewing the coffee as well and creating a new experience and new products for the marketplace.

A small, home-use espresso machine was used as a trial basis to gauge interest among the students. As interest grew, a higher quality machine was donated by BASIC ministries (a campus ministry team that comes to CCCD each March) and the students began selling specialty coffee drinks on the campus. The next step will be to go outside of the gates of the school and into the marketplace. But how? Deaf Can! Coffee is not sure yet, but the practicality of a mobile espresso caf� would require the least amount of capital investment, and if successful, could be a stepping stone to opening a brick and mortar Caf�.

If you are interested in learning more or seeing how you can partner with this initiative, like Deaf Can! Coffee on Facebook, follow them on Twitter or e-mail them at DeafCanCoffee@gmail.com