Name: Coffee shop by day, youth center by night: The Main Project & Café
Brand: journaltimes.com
SKU: journaltimes-com-35
Availability: OnlineOnly

critic

Coffee shop by day, youth center by night: The Main Project & Café

preview

Please subscribe to keep reading. You can cancel at any time.Already a subscriber?or .Loading&amp;hellp;Please log in to keep reading.Enjoy unlimited articles at one of our lowest prices ever.You are the owner of this article.You have permission to edit this article.© 2021 Lee EnterprisesCoffee shop by day, youth center by night: The Main Project &amp; CaféShare thisRACINE — “A positive and creative space focused on uniting and supporting all things good.”These are the words plastered on both windows outside of the yellow-doored building on 1014 State St., where owner Deontrae Mayfield has housed the .The café is the first Black-owned coffee shop in Racine, Mayfield said, and his vision for it was a place where everyone can feel comfortable and be united.“Every race, every background, every gender — this is a place where you can come and get a piece of what I do,” Mayfield said.The Main Project that helped local kids and their families in need, putting together action plans to get them back on their feet. That mission is still at the forefront, but the café opened in October as a means to raise money for the Main Project’s programs.Mayfield, 43, who is the only employee for now, opens the coffee shop at 6 a.m. on most days. Then, at 2 p.m., he closes up shop and makes room for the Main Project’s afterschool programs.Volunteers swing by the building to teach free classes, ranging from sewing and home economics to construction. Mayfield’s goal is to offer kids and teens “elective” skills they may not always get in high school.Devin Wilson, 19, started off at the Main Project in the summer of 2016 as part of a group of teens mowing lawns for the Racine community to earn money and learn about landscaping. Now, he volunteers his time on Saturdays when the Main Project hands out free food.“I’ve learned that it’s easier to help out than people think it is,” Wilson said. He added helping out on the weekends was a ‘why not?’ choice for him.Wilson, who aspires to be an industrial electrician, called Mayfield a “big influence,” adding that Mayfield helped him determine what he wanted to do in the future.Auntavia Jackson, a customer, goes to the Main Project &amp; Café on an almost-daily basis because she works from home and likes to get some things done at the coffee shop.“(Deontrae) does it genuinely from his heart,” Jackson said about Mayfield’s efforts in giving back to the youths in his community.Mayfield said people come in with different stories that can be “an hour’s worth of laughs or can turn into a counseling session.” He said the café has also been a spot for debate, where customers can productively share their own perspectives on different issues.“We don’t judge,” he said. “And most times, we feel 100% better because we heard the other side.”Owning a coffee shop has been Mayfield’s dream ever since he was a kid. He said “there’s just something intimate about,” coffee shops.Mayfield learned how to make coffee just three days before his opening date, he said, and for the first two weeks he was open, he didn’t charge anyone for the drinks they ordered.“I was still learning,” Mayfield said. “I wanted to make sure I could make a great cup of coffee before I had you pay for it.”But now, Mayfield finds himself coming up with all sorts of concoctions — most notably, he invented the Mayfield Mocha, a blend of chocolate, caramel and espresso locally roasted by .It “ended up being a smash hit,” Mayfield said.The signature drink is so popular that Mayfield has created shirts dedicated to it, reading, “You Had Me At Mayfield Mocha.”The café hasn’t had any issues attracting business during the pandemic. There are seating options inside and the furniture is socially distanced. When it’s too full inside, Mayfield switches to to-go orders only. He is currently working on the upstairs level of the building for additional seating and space for programs.Mayfield bought the building on State Street out of his own pocket four years ago. “It was abandoned,” he said.Despite the financial setbacks, “I would do it all again,” Mayfield said.From all of the repairs he did on the building, he said he feels like he can build “an entire facility from the lessons I’ve learned.”Looking ahead, Mayfield’s goals for the Main Project &amp; Café is to get the entire building running. He wants to have “programs galore” and have it be like an apprenticeship school for the kids who come in.“If I don’t succeed anywhere past this,” Mayfield said, “it’s already been a great success for me.”“I would do it all again,” Mayfield said.Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter.Deontrae Mayfield, the only employee at the Main Project &amp; Café, serves up a coffee on Thursday.&nbsp;Auntavia Jackson, customer, works remotely at the Main Project Café while rocking the café's branded hoodie last week.&nbsp;Deontrae Mayfield pours steamed milk into a customer's coffee cup last week.&nbsp;"The Main Project" is etched into a homemade wooden star atop a Christmas tree in the Main Project Café last week.&nbsp;Black chalkboard art is posted above tables in The Main Project Café last week. Mayfield says a lot of the furniture and decoration in the coffee shop have been made and refurbished by him or the youth in the program.&nbsp;© Copyright 2021 , 212 Fourth St. Racine, WI&nbsp;| &nbsp;|Powered by from .{{title}}{{summary}}You don't have any notifications.Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device.Topics

Please subscribe to keep reading. You can cancel at any time.Already a subscriber?or .Loading&amp;hellp;Please log in to keep reading.Enjoy unlimited articles at one of our lowest prices ever.You are the owner of this article.You have permission to edit this article.© 2021 Lee EnterprisesCoffee shop by day, youth center by night: The Main Project &amp; CaféShare thisRACINE — “A positive and creative space focused on uniting and supporting all things good.”These are the words plastered on both windows outside of the yellow-doored building on 1014 State St., where owner Deontrae Mayfield has...

Coffee shop by day, youth center by night: The Main Project & Café

No article scores yet.

CRITIC REVIEWS

PUBLIC REVIEWS