A North Omaha advocate and entrepreneur is working alongside a Bellevue-based chain to change a neighborhood with coffee.
"We believe North Omaha's next chapter is just being written and we are proud to be part of it!" Julian Young wrote on a Facebook post Tuesday.
Young, founder of The Start Center, is opening a Scooter's Coffee shop at 30th and Ames street in Omaha in a few weeks, according to his post, and Scooter's is definitely behind his mission. The organization "uses economics to empower communities with long-term economic sustainability."
Scooter's posted a video on its website and Facebook page, touting the upcoming location's unique partnership.
"The brainchild of our co-founder Don Eckles and community leader Julian Young has turned into a friendship and partnership that will rejuvenate a neighborhood on the verge of a rebirth," the website states above the following video:
The two of them have been working on opening the store for at least three years, according to the video.
"Successful companies kind of owe it to the community to give back in some way," Eckles says in the video.
The store is intended to created jobs in that community, but Young says it does so much more.
"It opens the door for real conversation. Are we doing our best to understand each other? Are we really listening?" he says in the video.
"What Scooter's Coffee is saying to North Omaha is, 'You're just as valuable as anywhere else we have a store. You're equal. You're equal," Young says in the video. "It lets the people ofl this community know that you're not forgotten. You matter."
