Why We Started Purple Door Coffee
In 2009, after years of walking alongside unhoused young people in Denver, our team at Dry Bones recognized a heartbreaking reality: the young people we served had the drive to work and rebuild their lives but were repeatedly shut out by barriers beyond their control. Lack of experience, interrupted education, unstable housing, and gaps in basic life skills all stood in the way of meaningful employment.
We saw an opportunity to create more opportunities for healing and help our friends more deeply thrive. It was time to create a space where they could gain real job training, supportive mentorship, and the life skills necessary to overcome these obstacles. From this vision, Purple Door Coffee was born—a 12-month intensive program that empowers people who have experienced houselessness at a young age to build a foundation for their future.
At Purple Door Coffee, our team members are crucial to every step of the coffee process. Each participant’s journey begins at our production facility, where we roast, weigh, bag, and ship beans across the country, all while gaining 22 hours each week of face-to-face mentorship and hands-on job training. The program is holistic and goes deep. Through their hard work, they challenge themselves as they acquire the skills, confidence, and resilience needed to move forward. Graduates progress with the tools they need to leave street life behind and start fresh.
Want to support this work? Every bean or cup of coffee you buy—whether for your home, office, school, church, or friend—is a step toward new beginnings and lasting change.
Visit purpledoorcoffee.com to purchase coffee, or come visit the shop at 1640 Sherman St and experience this mission in person.
Our curriculum and overall mission requires a tremendous amount of hours in training and therefore is supplemented by the generosity of the community. Are you able to support Purple Door or Dry Bones’ larger mission? Donate today.
Together, we’re opening doors to brighter futures for Denver’s unhoused teens and young adults.
Learn more about the mission of Dry Bones here.
Join us on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube:
DB Insta | DB Facebook | DB YouTube PDC Insta | PDC Facebook
Quick Points in PDC History:
- Madison Chandler and Mark Smesrud served to launch Purple Door as a social enterprise in 2011.
- Our first shop opened at 30th and Welton in April, 2012. This store operated until just before the pandemic.
- We began roasting our own ethically sourced beans in 2016 at our warehouse facility in Englewood. This warehouse space soon became the primary job-readiness training grounds.
- After a few years of delay amidst the Covid pandemic, the new cafe on Sherman Street opened in April of 2024.
- We hope to expand our production area to the space directly below the cafe on Sherman street, beginning in 2025.