Kartma Street Café is setting out to end homelessness through social enterprise. Our café pays a living wage to individuals transitioning out of homelessness while they build marketable skills and serve premium coffee. Our team members work to enhance their wellbeing to permanently end their homelessness
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Reflection
Our motivation in part comes from a true sense of need, there is a need to help others in this world and I do believe that if everyone put in just a little we would all have what we need. I live in a great city; the city of Portland OR. As I walk the streets during my day I see the ever growing issue of homelessness; our mayor has declared homelessness a crises. While I agree with his statement, I see no clear path to aiding in a solution. This is why KARTMA is so important; providing current homeless people with not only a job, but a job that pays a living wage ($15.00 per hour) is crucial. While having a job is great it only aids in the overall solution. Partnering with the right community partner is another part; we hope our future community partner(s) will aid in providing transitional housing, counseling and help care. If we can systematically meet these basic needs, I believe we can progress forward towards reducing homelessness.