storytelling | Serving Up Coffee with an Attitude

Three years ago, a group of high school girls and adult mentors decided to put their vision into action: they wanted a chemical-free, girl-run, nonprofit meeting place for youth in the larger Staples, Minn. community.

They did it. With the help of parents and community volunteers, as well as a three-year girlsBEST implementation grant from the Women’s Foundation, Stomping Grounds Coffee Shop has become the fun entrepreneurial experiment envisioned by its founders.

A core group of six girls and two part-time adult staff members make operations and programming decisions together. School-aged staff and volunteers learn by managing all aspects of the coffee shop. One girl said, “I have learned time management skills, interpersonal skills, how to handle money better, and how to follow instructions.”

Local businesses serve as monthly sponsors and hold meetings at the Stomping Grounds. The shop is a member of the local Chamber of Commerce. According to Pam Collins, Operations Manager and adult mentor, “It has helped the community become more unified. We are becoming a destination in our town.” Stomping Grounds opened its 35-seat expansion in late April.

A primary girlsBEST goal is to increase girls’ readiness to achieve economic well-being. It’s working. “Our girls have grown as far as their ability to deal with the world.  They’re communicating with adults. The things that you see are the little things,” said Collins.

And those little things add up: both 2005 high school graduates and many past Stomping Grounds participants are now attending college.

GIRL RUN, GIRL LED
Jesse Capristrant,
Bernadette Shafer,
Stephanie Jares
- Stomping Grounds’ staffers and
Women’s Foundation grantees