According to estimations from the National Conference of State Legislatures, about 4.2 million youth and young adults across America experience homelessness—about 17% of which are unaccompanied minors.
“I served in the country; I served in the hood; and I’ve served in the suburbs,” he said. “It might not look the same, but poverty and homelessness [exists] in all of those places.”
Washington launched a nonprofit called The Oneighty Project in 2019 with a goal to end youth homelessness by equipping at-risk teens with tools essential to their success. Around the same time, he decided to start a for-profit coffee-roasting business that would help support this mission.
Coffee roasting seemed like a promising route to pursue because most people already drink coffee regularly, and tying the product to a charitable cause would help drive sales, he said. But Washington admits he was not a coffee drinker himself until traveling to countries such as Haiti and El Salvador on mission trips and learning about the nuances in different coffee styles.
Despite not having any prior experience in the coffee industry, Washington took a leap of faith and immersed himself in the study of roasting. Rugid Grind coffee roasting company launched online two years ago, and the business moved into a storefront with space for roasting equipment on Cherry Park Drive in late 2020.
“I went from not drinking coffee to completely knowing how to roast coffee,” he said. “It does my heart good when people try the coffee and [say] ‘This coffee’s really good,’ ... because I haven’t been roasting as long.”
The storefront offers six varieties, including Guatemala Santa Rosa, Indonesia Sumatra Honey, Papua New Guinea Peaberry, Colombian, Ugandan and decaf— all of which can also be ordered online and shipped to consumers.
A portion of proceeds go to partner organizations that house and support vulnerable youth as well as Oneighty Project efforts. In addition to bringing awareness to the issue of youth homelessness, Washington said he plans to train at-risk teenagers in the art of coffee roasting and eventually open coffee shops where he can employee them.
Beyond that, he said his ultimate goal would be to house these individuals in their own communities.
“[Instead of providing] a space where they’re more isolated from the people they go to school with, we would try to keep them in their regular environments. They’ve already lost their parents for whatever reason, and some of them end up separated from siblings,” Washington said. “That’s down the road. We have to start somewhere, and this is our start.”
Rugid Grind, 7520 Cherry Park Drive, Ste. A-1, Houston. 281-969-4663
Hours: Mon.-Thu. 10 a.m.-5 p.m., closed Fri.-Sun. www.rugidgrind.coffee
