Coffee, but make it inclusive.

The PNW just got a new coffee shop and, to put it simply, I now know who I want to be when I grow up. David and Kelly are the owners of the newest coffee shop called Radiate, located in Camas. Their goal is to bring the community together with the help of some coffee of course.

David is recently retired and Kelly is a special education pre-school teacher and after years of seeing an ongoing issue in our community, they decided to take a step forward to make a difference. After David started volunteering with Kelly at the Special Olympics, their mission became more clear. Kelly watched a lot of her former students age out of the system (around 21 years old students with disabilities age out of the public school system) and have a hard time finding jobs and a place to go where they feel welcomed.

The power-couple brainstormed on what kind of business they could open that could offer as many jobs to people as they can. Now, Radiate Coffee and Community has been brought to life! A coffee shop that welcomes all, treats everyone with a high level of respect, and gives their employees meaningful work. They also strive to bring our community together! We all know we need it :)

Radiate is a coffee shop, but David and Kelly want to open their space to everyone. They

love connecting with local artists, authors, and makers and they both focus on bringing back human connection. Post-covid has been rough on a lot of us and we have become too reliant on virtual automations that take the human out of human connections. Radiate helps facilitate these human connections. This dynamic duo is working hard to bring in-person connection back, plus with REALLY GOOD COFFEE!!

Radiate is having a grand opening and we are all invited!! On November 14th from 10am-3pm, Radiate will have a makers market and live music to show everyone their mission and lead by example on how to create inclusice spaces.

Future plans for Radiate is to create a green house for the experienced gardeners and people willing to learn, a space to support people with their own small business ventures, and a nonprofit to continue to support our community.

When I asked "why the name Radiate for their coffee shop?" Kelly explained how Radiate felt like the positivity our community needs. Radiating joy and love! That radiating something may start out small but has the ability to keep growing!

Bigfoot Books will be at the grand opening November 14th and I hope to see you there too! Radiate is a truly special coffee shop that is working hard to spread the inclusive love!

Read. Roam. Repeat.

Kayla