When locals hear the name “Victory Mission,” most think of the shelter for homeless men in north Springfield or the former soup kitchen that operated on Commercial Street for many years.
But lately, more and more people are learning about Victory Mission via their morning cup of Joe.
Equip Coffee is a relatively new social enterprise program of Victory Mission aimed at generating income for the faith-based nonprofit while providing workforce training for participants in Victory Mission’s Restoration program, a 12-18-month program designed to transform the lives of people leaving traumatic circumstances such as homelessness, abuse or the justice system.
The coffee packaging company is housed at Victory Mission’s administration building at 1715 N. Boonville Ave.
Thanks to grant funding, the program launched in 2018 under the name Victory Coffee Co. Due to some confusion with the already-popular Victory Coffee brand, the program was rebranded a couple of times.
Program leaders recently settled on the name Equip Coffee because — as the company’s tagline says — the coffee equips “you for your day and our interns for life.”
The company was successful early on in large part because of existing partnerships and relationships Victory Mission had with churches and organizations that began purchasing their coffee wholesale from Victory Mission, the website says. Among its first customers were Jefferson Avenue Baptist, New Life Church and the Drew Lewis Foundation.
Some locally owned coffee shops like Big Momma’s and Rise in Marshfield now serve Equip Coffee’s espresso blend exclusively, said Victory Mission’s director of outreach Kyler Temple.
Coffee beans purchased through fair trade
Equip Coffee purchases still-green coffee beans from farmers in Brazil, Ethiopia, Papua New Guinea, Colombia and Guatemala.
“They’re single-origin beans,” Temple explained. “Our coffee is traceable. If you look at any of our coffee bags, you can see right there on the packaging where the coffee has come from.”
Equip Coffee is a fair trade company, meaning the beans are “ethically sourced at more than fair trade prices,” Temple said.
“They are roasted here by a local roasting craftsman here in town,” Temple said. “Then we package them up and give them to our customers as fresh as can be.”
Jennifer Mize is a current Restoration intern working at Equip Coffee. For Mize, it’s a full-time job that she enjoys.
“I like packaging,” Mize said, “and then I like delivering, especially on nice sunny days.”
Temple smiled at Mize’s comments.
“All of the businesses that Jennifer delivers to love when she comes in,” Temple added. “It’s fun to see the relationships with the people that you know you see weekly when you deliver coffee. And they really like getting to know Jennifer.”
In addition to wholesale coffee for businesses and organizations, individual bags of coffee can be purchased at The Local Bevy, Chabom Tea + Spices, both Hy-Vee locations in Springfield, and at Victory Mission’s administration building on Commercial Street.
“People can come in and shop,” said Mindy McDonald, Victory Mission’s director of marketing. “We keep whole beans and ground in stock. Everything is ground fresh. We try to ground as little as possible, last minute as possible, because as soon as you grind your coffee, then it starts to lose its freshness.”
Individuals, businesses and organizations can become a subscriber and have their coffee order delivered weekly. Delivery is available within 10 miles of Victory Mission and occurs every Thursday. If no one is home, the coffee will be tied to your door handle unless instructed otherwise.
Equip Coffee also offers custom labels. These are especially popular with businesses around the holidays as a way to thank their customers, McDonald said.
“When I got married, I did custom labels for all my bridesmaids,” she said. “We put our save-the-date picture on there.”
Learn more about Equip Coffee here. Learn more about Victory Mission’s other programs here.
