The aroma of ground coffee creeps across the hi-rise lobby as a hiss of espresso steam beckons bankers and software engineers. For customers, Beaningful is a morning wake-up call, a boost to start the day.

For Kristina Ozhekhovskaya, it’s the biggest push toward English fluency since her arrival to the United States four years ago. For LaShaya Alexander, it’s a way to move past a childhood of homelessness.

The women are employees at Beaningful Coffee, a shop in the lobby of Osborn 370 in downtown St. Paul. A part of the nonprofit Neighborhood House, the coffee shop offers job experience and more to people in transition.

“Now, I’m actually at peace,” said Alexander, who has a place to call home and hopes to someday run her own restaurant.

The shop’s six part-time employees are referred to as the Brew Crew. Each was recommended by a Neighborhood House staff member and had been participating in educational programs through the St. Paul nonprofit.

“Beaningful is really a jobs-training program,” said Shad Klukas, director of social enterprise and events at Neighborhood House. “It’s to give first-job experience to individuals and help them build their résumé and their networks.”

“We aren’t just selling coffee,” Klukas said. “We are selling an experience.”

‘BEFORE THIS JOB … I DIDN’T TALK WITH AMERICAN PEOPLE’

With support from Twin Cities organizations such as the St. Paul Foundation and Ecolab, Beaningful opened its doors in November 2018. Offering a $13-an-hour base wage with plans to increase to $15 within two years, the shop strives to provide its crew stability while also training them in communication and language skills.

Ozhekhovskaya is a Russian immigrant who has been living in the United States four years. She was fluent in Russian and had studied German, but knew no English when she arrived. While working for a cleaning service, she began taking classes at Neighborhood House.

The 122-year-old institution offers education programs and food programs for free. There are also classes focused on English, gaining citizenship, college-readiness and an array of other topics.

It was there that Ozhekhovskaya found Beaningful.

Now a supervisor at the coffee shop, she assists other staff members, some of them from different countries and working through language barriers of their own. And she does it all in English.

“Before this job … I didn’t talk with American people,” Ozhekhovskaya said. “Here, I start talking and improve my English. That’s my favorite part.”

‘THEIR DESIRE TO LEARN IS JUST INSANE’

The week before opening day, employees were trained to brew espresso and drip coffee, make salads with local beets and process payments through an electronic kiosk.

Some were still learning English. Now they had to learn the language of coffee. “Half-caf” and “dirty matcha” became key vocabulary.

“It really is amazing how much they’ve learned,” general manager Lisa Leitner said. “Their desire to learn is just insane.”

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After the incident, employees feared the machine, Klukas said. Their hands would shake when locking the brew head.

Now, they’ve mastered the machine. Each button and lever and spigot is controlled without fear. Employees even tell Leitner and Klukas when the coffee isn’t brewing correctly. They can hear it.

‘I WORK ONLY TO HELP PEOPLE’

“Good coffee, good cause” adorns the sign above the shop’s windows. Each cup costs $3 to $4, all of which is used to fund Neighborhood House programs.

These are programs that work with people like Marie Claire Pambani, another Beaningful employee.

Pambani, originally from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, suffered the loss of her husband during the Congo War and was separated from her daughter for five years, not knowing if she was alive.

The two reunited after she came to Minnesota with her son, and soon after, she enrolled in English classes at Neighborhood House, which led her to Beaningful.

Her experience serving coffee to Minnesotans has sharpened her English skills and allowed her to acclimate to a culture far different from her own. But she doesn’t see it that way.

“I work only to help people,” Pambani said.

‘IT’S NOT GOOD TO WAIT TO LIVE’

That includes people like Alexander, her co-worker who grew up without a consistent home.

She remembers what it was like in the shelter. She was 13 years old. A bunk bed was her home. The mac and cheese and pizza served for dinner was just OK. At 10 p.m., the door would close.

She also remembers her original St. Paul home where the price of rent got too high. And the Maplewood hotel room next to a Denny’s where her family of four slept in two double beds.

Now, a decade later, Alexander is an employee at Beaningful. She lives with her mom and brother in St. Paul where she helps with rent and food and electricity.

At 5 a.m., she gets up and boards a Metro Transit bus. She says it’s tough getting up so early, but she serves coffee with a smile.

“Over that time when I was young, I’m like living my own hell,” Alexander said. “I’m happier now. It’s not good to wait to live.”

BEANINGFUL COFFEE