A faith-based non-profit coffeehouse’s staff in downtown Myrtle Beach is determined to provide a place where people experiencing homelessness are not stripped of their dignity, even if it’s just for the business day.
Walking into the coffeehouse, community members are welcomed into the warm atmosphere by name and greeted with a hug.
Sparing community members from embarrassment, Fresh Brewed Coffee House staff hands out cups of coffee when requested and without questions asked. Some customers pay the full cost, some pay with loose change and some just say “thank you,” before moving on.
Executive Director of Fresh Brewed Ministries Inc. Kate Curran explained how the donation-funded Coffee on Suspend initiative provides one free cup of coffee a day for anyone in need.
Extending their reach with a food pantry, clothing closet and inclusive atmosphere, Fresh Brewed is a haven for people facing housing and food insecurity.
One frequent customer, Derek Goodman, is known around the coffee house as “Papa Smurf.” Goodman explained the life-saving impact the coffeehouse has on a vulnerable community.
“You’ve found a safe place,” he said. “I know it’s a safe place where I can come, where I can relax, have a good cup of coffee, meet new people.”
Multiple customers mentioned the importance of an inclusive environment for people living on the streets, who spend most of their time aimlessly walking to avoid loitering fines. People living outside, whether on the sidewalks or in the woods, visit Fresh Brewed multiple times a week to rest on the chairs and couches.
Goodman said Curran creates a welcoming atmosphere and refuses to accept any form of violence, harassment or illegal substances in her building.
“If Kate’s here, she’s the bulldog. And nobody messes with the bulldog,” he said.
Curran said the Myrtle Beach City Council and local businesses actively target Fresh Brewed for drawing attention to an unattractive reality in the city.
“I’m making the lack of support and actual help for people that are financially insecure, I’m making it maybe more visible and I’m also giving them a place to go… the people that they don’t want seen,” she said. “But I’m also pointing out a glaring social issue that people don’t want to deal with, or they don’t understand, or they can’t fathom even trying how to make things better.”
After living in the area for over 20 years and working in the community service field for over 15 years, Curran said she has watched Myrtle Beach perpetuate homelessness by failing to provide obtainable jobs with livable wages or workforce housing yet criminalizing sitting on curbs.
“I don’t want people sleeping outside on the sidewalk either. It’s not good for business. But rather than just think that arresting everybody and just making people go away was like a realistic option, because that’s not,” she said. “Because I’ve watched our city take that approach for all these years, and it’s just insanity that they just keep over and over and over and over again. Like, you’re expecting something different to happen but you’re not changing your approach.”
A Coastal Carolina University Class of 2017 alum, Curran, is putting her political science studies to use. Using a proactive approach that provides and assists people in locating resources to get back on their feet, she has seen plenty of success stories.
Among those four is Tina Ledford, who has been working at Fresh Brewed for over a year, and has been sober for just over two years. Ledford officially has her own apartment for the first time in over two years. She has recently been legally granted unsupervised visits with her children and looks forward to spending their first weekend together in years.
“Knowing that I’ve been in the same situation as 90% of people that have been through here, how I got myself to a better place,” Ledford said. “I want to help guide everybody, treat them with dignity and like a person. Definitely letting them know that we see them, that we hear them, we are here with whatever we can do for them.”
The Fresh Brewed staff stand firm in their message of love and support, even if they aren’t the most adored by their business neighbors.
“This is how I think that we should be taking care of our neighbors. This is how I think that communities should be running and taking care of each other,” Curran said. “I’ve been called a nuisance, and that’s okay. If you don’t like that we’re trying to help people at the worst point of their lives, that’s not my problem. I don’t care.”
