Today we’d like to introduce you to Yongsuk Lee.
Hi Yongsuk, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I aspired to become a singer/songwriter after graduating from high school. Instead of going to college, I chose to focus on writing songs. One day a long-time acquaintance invited me to sing one of my songs at a weekly homeless feeding service at his church in Lancaster. Lancaster was a long 75-mile drive, so I agreed to go just one time.
The homeless people gathered as usual that Tuesday morning for breakfast at the church. The pastor introduced me as a special guest from Pasadena. I sang a song I wrote with the lyric, “You are born to be loved, born to be loved.” In the middle of the song, the homeless people began to well up with tears and held each other’s hands. I could hardly contain my emotions and barely managed to finish. A middle-aged woman named Jennifer came up to me afterward, and with an embrace said, “Thank you for the song. I found great consolation.” Seeing that my song could encourage these people like that, I wanted to sing for them again. My ongoing relationship with the homeless people of Lancaster was formed that same day. I have been singing for them every Tuesday since then.
Beyond singing songs, I have slept in the desert with my homeless friends. I have eaten with them, listened to their life stories, and witnessed their pains.
But at the same time, I found hidden treasures. Many may think the homeless are nothing more than dirty, lazy, crazy, alcoholics, and drug addicts. I was able to see beyond these common stereotypes. I saw hope.
I saw hope for a group of marginalized and ostracized people willing but unable to contribute to society. The prejudice and misconceptions prevalent in our culture about the homeless severely limit opportunities for them to become productive members of their community. All they needed was the right kind of support and opportunity.
So I founded a nonprofit organization, Street Company: Lancaster Homeless Group. I wanted to engage my homeless friends in activities that benefit the community. I believe that, despite their economic and social disadvantages, they can create something amazing together – homelessness is just their circumstances. It is not their identity. I told my friends that whoever comes to our meeting should not expect to be served but be prepared to serve their peers and the community. In 2018, we started gathering at a small park in Lancaster. What we had at that time was a few hundred bucks in our organization’s bank account. We used the money to buy some bread and hams from the 99 Cents store. We had close to nothing but we had a vision of creating jobs through which homeless people could find hope. We chose to launch a coffee business to create economic opportunities for the homeless.
Four years have passed. Now we run a wholesale coffee roasting social enterprise. We work with Los Angeles County, local governments, and nonprofit agencies to create jobs for homeless people to work, reconnect, and thrive economically and socially. We were selected as the 2020 CA Nonprofit of the Year. We are creating our own coffee brand, Casters Coffee, which will provide an 18-month transitional employment program for people who experience homelessness.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Well, not at all a smooth road. We had an amazing mission and incredible goals. We had passion. But we did not have any experience working together. My colleagues have lived in a harsh environment where people are often hostile to each other for a long period of time; like seven to ten years. Their language was often filled with hostility, anger, hatred, shame, and fear.
Problems occurred when we started our pop-up coffee shop at the local farmers’ market. Two of our members had an argument over a minor communication problem. And the argument quickly became a serious altercation. I had to intervene and let them step away from each other. And conflicts happened over and over again whenever we had the pop-up coffee shops. I tried to teach my new friends how to respect each other and treat each other with kindness. It did not work at first. I was distressed. I thought I may have to call an end to the Street Company project.
Rather than giving up, we chose to sit down and talk. The homeless team members and I sat around a round table and promised to share our thoughts and emotions with each other honestly. I knew this talk could turn into a blame game quickly. So, we decided to share our weaknesses and vulnerabilities and then ask for others’ understanding. Each of us took a turn and shared. I started first. I shared my lack of leadership training and my inexperience in leading a team. I asked them to understand and embrace my weaknesses. I asked for their support and help to grow as a better leader. They encouraged me by saying, “You are one of the best leaders… we will support you with whatever we have!”
Other team members began sharing their stories such as tales about their abusive childhood, or being rejected by their family, or domestic violence at a foster home, and many others. They shared thoughts about why they are hostile to others. They shared their feelings about why trusting someone is so difficult for them.
We cried. We cried a lot. We stood up and gave each other hugs. And we promised to protect each other.
We decided to have this talk once a month. We call it “The Honest Talk.” Now we are a strong team with bonds of trust. We still have conflicts from time to time, but we are not afraid. We know how to deal with and overcome our conflicts through candid conversations and expressions of love toward each other.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Street Company is a nonprofit that was founded by homeless people to overcome their social and economic difficulties together by sharing ideas, labor, resources, and compassion. Our focus is on creating jobs in which homeless people work, reconnect, and thrive. We believe in jobs. A good-paying job is more than a source of income. It provides a sense of community that is fundamental to anyone who wants to thrive in society. People gather nearly every day, they share ideas, resources, and emotions. They set common goals and support each other on their paths to achieving those goals. They add value to the community by making good products and providing quality services. Through work, we gain both economic security and companions for life.
I found a disconnect between my city’s homeless people and the available job opportunities.
Street Company chose to create a coffee business as our first social venture. We started our coffee catering business in 2019, and recently expanded it into a wholesale coffee roasting business, CASTERS COFFEE. At CASTERS COFFEE, homeless people work and become integral parts of a community that embraces, motivates, and loves them.
We are committed to creating jobs for people who experience homelessness. One hundred percent of our coffee sales revenue will be used to employ homeless people. Every $15 you spend on our coffee will create one hour’s worth of employment for a homeless individual.
As the leader of Street Company, I bring people together for this mission. And I make sure we maintain allegiance to the initial values of the organization; homeless people can serve the community and their peers. They are the center of the organization.
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
Audacious. I do not spend too much time analyzing upcoming challenges or potential failures. When I find meaningful value in a potential project, I just do it. Well, recklessness is foolish if I am quick to quit. Nevertheless, I don’t give up. Challenges are inevitable. Opportunities always come with risks. I embrace the nature of my journey. I initiate a fresh hard look if I find our values being compromised. I tend to find the answers organically along the journey and cross bridges as we come them.
Thankfully, I have super smart and analytical people around me contributing to Street Company’s mission. I work with Kevin Lee, who is a co-founder of Street Company and an IT security engineer at Tinder. David Myung, a program manager at U.S Space Force helps me with strategic planning and policymaking. Youna Jang, Art Director at Pastilla, takes care of the branding of Street Company and Casters Coffee. Taebum Lee, General Manager at Copa Vida Coffee provides technical assistance on developing our roasting business. Iman Samarghandi, a well-known marketing expert, recently joined our team to lift Street Company to the next level.
And I have an incredible team of five homeless people running the daily production and operation: Marco van den Heuvel, Matthew LaBelle, Steven Wilson, Bobby Edwards, and Sara Redinger.
I was able to come this far only because of them. We are Street Company – a group of homeless people and young professionals gathering in solidarity to overcome our economic and social difficulties by sharing our ideas, labors, resources, and compassion.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: www.streetcompany.org
- Instagram: @streetcompany4
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KtZEX82sGg&ab_channel=StreetCompany
