Veteran Roasters Café: Brewing opportunities for at-risk veterans

CHICAGO (WGN) – In the heart of The Loop, a coffee café is on a mission.

Mark Doyle started Veteran Roasters Café at 161 North Clark Street in downtown Chicago in 2017.

The Loop location is their first brick and mortar location, with another spot in Terminal 3 at Chicago O’Hare International Airport.

“The mission of this café is to hire and train homeless and at-risk veterans, just like veteran roasters and just like our parent company Rags of Honor,” Doyle said.

WGN-TV first reported about Rags of Honor years ago. Doyle started Rags of Honor after a civilian deployment to Afghanistan.

“When I returned to Chicago, you have to go back 10 years or so, there were 2,000 homeless veterans just here in Chicago, and there over 300,000 homeless nationwide,” Doyle said.

The clothing and coffee are now being sold at the café and proceeds go to furthering the big mission: lifting up those thousands of veterans.

“So what we like to do is if you’re in trouble anywhere in the country, we’ll help you out. If you need a job here, we’ll try and get you hired and trained up,” Doyle said.

So far, they’ve seen about 120 veterans come through. Many were once without a home. Some, like Veteran Roasters Café manager Dion West, have moved up the ranks.

“I got to grow as a man, as a person in the last 10 years, I started at the bottom and now I’m running the day-to-day operations of the organization. It’s a position I never thought I’d be in,” West said.

For a decade, West used his training from the Navy to help himself and other veterans.

“Every single cup of coffee purchased helps veterans. It’s a perfect mission; it’s a good mission. It’s something positive in a world full of negativity,” West said.

From the fresh coffee, the food, brown sugar bakery cakes and the cookies, all homemade in their kitchen, there’s a special touch baked into the service from those who’ve served.

“Our whole mission is to continue grow the footprint and to find a way to give those who wore the uniform just a shot at the life they deserve,” Doyle said.