Bean’s Cafe’s Streets to Success program supports men and women with histories of homelessness, addiction, and criminal behaviors as they choose to accept personal responsibility and work toward building healthier lives. Bean’s Cafe launched the program in December 2023, after working to combat homelessness and hunger in Anchorage, Alaska for more than four decades.
Streets to Success is a voluntary 12- to 16-month program that provides opportunities for participants to develop valuable life skills as well as marketable job skills. Participants and program leaders work together to maintain a therapeutic community that promotes a sense of belonging, personal accountability, and social responsibility.
Job skills training is provided at no cost through Bean’s Cafe’s vocational training / social enterprise program called Motley Crew Enterprises. Participants develop soft skills for successful employment and practical job skills. This hands-on learning takes place in professional settings. 100% of proceeds raised through Motley Crew Enterprises is used to offset program costs.
Supported self-work is another key component of Streets to Success. The program curriculum is based on evidence-based practices that build a foundation for positive change. Learning components include positive attitudes, rational thinking, prosocial lifestyles, healthy relationships, and tools for maintaining recovery.
The program is divided into four phases. The first three phases feature independent journaling, journal groups, skills development classes, financial management workshops, relationship courses, and GED tutoring. The final phase is an important time of transition. Phase 4 participants manage their own appointments and responsibilities while adhering to program requirements. They focus on securing employment and searching for post-graduation housing.
Throughout their time in the program, participants receive support and guidance from experts with lived experience – staff members and mentors who have overcome homelessness, substance abuse, and incarceration in their own lives. Bean’s Cafe also maintains important partnerships with community businesses to help Streets to Success graduates maintain lasting personal and professional success.
The vision of Streets to Success, a program of Bean’s Cafe, is to provide the necessary tools and life skills that result in lasting change for people who are ready and willing to come out of addiction, homelessness, and other life barriers. We believe the opposite of addiction is connection. Giving others purpose through connection is vital for lasting change to healthy living. We believe in accountability
with love. Teaching others to be responsible for their actions by bringing awareness with honesty and care is essential to staying successful in recovery. We are
dedicated to helping people become successful in everyday living by providing a pathway to self-sufficiency with dignity and respect.
Phase 1: Community and Self-Discovery
Orientation Phase; participants will learn the basic principles and components of the community. Participants will focus on learning the 8 positive attitudes such as humility, caring, responsibility, and honesty. They will also focus on willingness, objectivity, gratitude, and open mindedness. On top of that, that will start to learn and identify the 8 common thinking errors and explore their thoughts that are causing negative outcomes that have affected them in the past.
Phase 2: Personal Development
This phase is known as the core phase. Participants will learn their actions behind their criminal thinking. In this phase participants must exhibit changes and understanding in core-related concepts. They will begin to understand the ripple effect of their behaviors and consistently challenge their irrational beliefs. They will learn about relationship roles and how to maintain them along with how to effectively communicate with others.
Phase 3: Strategies for Success
This phase is known as the Transition Phase. This is where the rubber meets the road. They will identify obstacles and solutions for those obstacles. They will build a relapse prevention plan and safety net of people in their community that are a positive influence. They can go to outside recovery meetings too.
Phase 4: Moving Forward
In this phase, they have completed the journals and now have more freedom. They will obtain their GED, (if needed) build a resume, and do mock interviewing to prepare them for employment. Once they obtain full-time employment and set up a savings account, they will have a set amount in savings before they transition out of the program. They will also mentor participants in the other phases and will have the opportunity for an internship as a Program Facilitator if they so desire. They can also apply at Bean’s Cafe to be a part of our workforce development as a Second Chance Employer. If all the requirements have been met in phase 4, they will graduate and complete the program.
Interested in learning more about STS?
Contact our Program Manager, Kyle Gardner at
(907) 538 – 7049 or kgardner@beanscafe.org
Bean’s Cafe’s Streets to Success program and related dependency prevention services are supported by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) of the United States (U.S.) Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award (Award #90XP069) totaling $1,000,000. with 36 percent funded by ACF/HHS and $1,767,548 (64 percent) funded by nongovernment sources.