After the Grind Coffee House, Blackfalds, Alberta
The only coffee house in downtown Blackfalds is taking the grind out of many people’s workdays.
After the Grind, a ministry of the local Youth With A Mission (YWAM) branch, is a place townsfolk trust – not only for its excellent coffee, but also for the caring staff who build friendships with their customers and take time to listen. It has become a community-gathering space in Blackfalds, a small town in central Alberta with a population of 7,800. After the Grind is a not-for-profit business, relying on volunteers from YWAM and the community. The profits from the coffee house are used to support projects within the local community and several projects in SE Asia where YWAM is involved.
YWAM is an international, non-denominational movement of Christians helping people around the world. When it began in 1960, its focus was on giving youth opportunities to engage in mission experiences, with a goal to “know God and make Him known.” The very first mission trip took place in Liberia, where young people built a road through the jungle to a leper colony. YWAM now involves people aged nine to 90, and can be found in over 180 countries – following Jesus’ example of compassion, through ministries such as discipleship, education, disaster relief and community development.
Chris Keim is the leader of YWAM Blackfalds. Since opening After the Grind in July 2008, he has seen countless people come in for coffee and, over time, share their personal struggles. Some customers spend countless hours there, others have broken down in tears, many have asked for prayer, and one young couple even credits the people at the coffee shop with saving their marriage.
Chris Keim enjoys a cup of coffee at After the Grind.
“Just the ability to be real and listen to people can make such an impact,” Keim says. “This is not just a cold and impersonal café. It’s a source of community within community, and I love that.”
The coffee house hosts occasional music concerts, and acclaimed Hamilton-based guitarist Jacob Moon has become a regular there. They also open up their conference room to a weekly community painting class and a monthly Farmer’s Market craft fair.
Their most popular community event is a Friday games night for youth aged eight to 14, with up to 30 kids showing up.
“It’s packed. It’s chaotic. And they all love it,” says Keim. “It’s getting the kids off the street and some of them really have been able to open up.”
A number of these kids now give up ‘trick or treating’ on Halloween to join the YWAM staff for the largest Blackfalds Food Bank drive of the year. Staff members also devote countless hours to community involvement and sitting on various town boards.
As Keim explains, “It’s about building the community in a positive way…volunteering with The Food Bank, Food for School, Big Brothers Big Sisters, as well as coaching baseball, soccer and hockey.”
Many of these programs benefit youth who come from difficult home situations, and the YWAM staff are committed to spending time with them and helping create a sense of worth through encouragement – and also praying for the kids and their families.
The town of Blackfalds has honoured After the Grind and the eight YWAM members who volunteer in the community by presenting them with numerous awards.
“The governing body of Blackfalds recognizes us for our contribution to the town,” remarks Keim. “Now that’s really cool!”
Involved in YWAM for decades since a radical change happened in his own life, Keim was a self-proclaimed “bad kid” who grew up in Blackfalds. He went to the YWAM base in Kona, Hawaii, in 1990, with an eye to practicing his surfing skills. When he arrived to find no real beach and the base 40 minutes away from the ocean, he was angry.
But during his time studying the Bible there, God transformed his heart. The change was so dramatic that when he came back home, his future wife Sharon thought, “If it does that much for him, imagine what it’ll do for me!”
So she went to Kona as well. Three years later they were married and now have four children, aged eight to 18.
In 2000, they began the YWAM base at Eagles Nest Ranch in Cypress Hills, Alberta. But when Cornerstone Christian Fellowship donated a historic building to them in the heart of Blackfalds, the Keims seized the opportunity. They decided the facility would make a great coffee house.
But in this oil-driven town, the last 18 months have seen a decrease in their clientele. With many people losing their jobs, it’s only because After the Grind is run by volunteers that they have been able to survive.
“There are a number of former regulars that we don’t see anymore,” Keim remarks. “It’s because coffee is a disposable expense. I’ve even seen people at the Food Bank that used to come here all the time, and now we’re making hampers for them.”
Community volunteer Mary Joan Pyper serves up a mug of hot chocolate.
With YWAM staff raising their own financial support and people from the community willing to volunteer, Keim sees their business continuing to flourish. Over the past three years, some of the youth from their games night have begun serving at the coffee shop.
“From the conversations our youth volunteers have had here, they became more interested in learning about spirituality, God and faith,” says Keim. “We were able to send four of them to a camp out at Sylvan Lake. Now their lives are just changed.”
In the future, Keim hopes to lead educational trips to coffee-growing areas in Mexico and Guatemala “where people can learn about fair trade and our global economy ─ understanding that how they spend their money affects how someone else in another part of the world lives.”
After the Grind stocks fair trade-plus coffee from Doi Chaang in Thailand. This coffee company allows the farmers to own land, gives them 50 per cent ownership of the company, and pays them market value plus an additional 50 per cent for their coffee beans.
“How can a coffee shop change the world?” Keim asks. “God is there. People are being loved without knowing it…and God can change people through us being here.
For more information, visit YWAM Blackfalds.
All photos by Peter Fleck.
