Madison Chandler and Mark Smesrud, co-directors of Purple Door Coffee. Photo from Purple Door Coffee.
Today I met Madison Chandler. She is co-director, with Mark Smesrud, of Purple Door Coffee a specialty coffee shop in the heart of Denver. This classy little place serves a fantastic cup of spicy chai and a mean cup of joe. However, their greatest achievement is not the tea or the coffee but their mission to employ and job train people coming out of homelessness. They do this by offering one-year contracts to homeless young adults. During their year of employment, they not only get a paying job, but life-skills training, life coaching and a warm group of friends in their co-workers that many end up calling family.
The idea began back in 2007 as a dream.
Madison and Mark became friends while completing an internship with an organization working with homeless folks in Denver. They realized that a lot of young homeless people needed job skills if they were ever going to get off the streets. The idea of Purple Door stuck with Madison for quite a few years and she felt compelled to see the idea through. As Madison puts it,
And so she has. Madison spent two years fundraising and convinced Mark to leave a steady, well-paid job to join in the work.
They opened Purple Door in 2013 in the heart of Five Points, a neighborhood once known as the “Harlem of the West,” with a rich history of diversity, community and jazz. Clubs on Welton street hosted musical greats such as Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, Nat King Cole, and Dizzy Gillespie. Many black performers, turned away from other hotels in Denver, found a welcome place to stay in Five Points. From the 50’s to the 90’s, Five Points became more run down and generally known as a rough neighborhood in downtown Denver. It now appears to be going through the slow, painful process of gentrification, where the economy is improving and anyone who can’t afford the shift has to move on.
The Purple Door is a new business in an established community that is familiar with change, yet Madison bridges the gap by continuing on the tradition of providing a welcome place to folks who are accustomed to discrimination. The permanent staff of Purple Door often feel protective of their employees, particularly when someone without a lot of sensibility rocks up and asks, “So, how long have you been homeless?” They all walk a fine line between teaching the world about what they do and protecting their employees from being on show.
Despite the friction that arises through the meeting of these worlds, Madison and Mark maintain their sunny optimism. When Purple Door suffered a break-in last year, Mark’s response was,
“The recent break-in… does not change how we feel about our neighborhood… We love Five Points and the surrounding area. The break-in was an individual or group of individuals that still have incredible worth and value… We are also so thankful for the way the neighborhood has supported us up to the break-in and since the break-in. We will continue being who we are and doing what we do! Thank you so much for supporting us!”
If you would like to support Purple Door Coffee, you can make donations here, or just stop by and buy a cup of coffee at 2962 Welton St. in Denver. Don’t forget, they make damn good coffee.
P.S. They are looking to purchase a coffee roaster that would allow them to employ three more people. If you’d like to contribute, donate here or even better, if you know someone that can hook them up with a deal call 720-515-6639.