Our Story

 ​Our main partner and instructional space is located within The Way Church in Fenton, MI. We have a storefront inside Collaboration Grounds (1537 N Leroy St) open all but Sunday. However, we also work to bring our trailer to other educational organizations throughout the county.. 

 We are unapologetically partnered alongside the vision of The Way Church. However, our beliefs do not influence the educational content presented. Student and family belief systems do not impact performance in this program. Instead, we pray this outreach will let the community see the willingness to serve and meet needs with love. 

 ​Our director and lead teacher, Olivia Sanders, has a State Certification in both Secondary Mathematics and Special Education, Learning Disabilities. She has served as a teacher in other non-profit programs, as well as taught 5 years within the public school system. She has a MA degree in Learning and Technology, and 30 MA credits of coursework in Educational Leadership. 

 Our cohorts will run in small groups. While we do not have a weekly schedule to present for the fall, our goal is that at a minimum, each group is seeing a weekly 4 hour block of employment experience, as well as 4 hours of instruction. 

 No, this program is intended to prepare and equip students for future sustainable employment. Our student employees are paid 1099 for the hours they are working in our coffee truck. They are not paid for the additional instructional time in the classroom. Our specific goals for each student are geared toward helping them find long-term employment within the community. 

  ​This program is intentionally designed to adapt to each student’s needs. Some students may need weeks while others need months. Students that elect to be a part of this program will have a timeline decided by the instructional team and guardians. Some of our educational partners follow a semester timeline, and our program will mirror that schedule for those specific students.