Taos Launches a Co-op and Cafe Run By Teens and FOR Teens

Taos teens don’t have a dedicated space where they can safely engage with their peers and access support services. Certainly there are coffee shops in Taos, but these are typically filled with adults, and teens don’t always feel their presence is appreciated. So a local group of youths, working in collaboration with St. James Episcopal Church, came up with the idea of creating a dedicated co-op/cafe for teens where they could spend time engaging with each other and accessing services they might need. (There will be no religious affiliation at the co-op.) Included in the vision for the co-op are a teen-focused food pantry, laundry and shower facilities, a give/take clothes closet for those who need things, school supplies and other incidental items, a study area, space for counselors to meet with teens, internship and work study programs, weekly teen self-help group talks, a meditation room, a music room, an art room, teen art shows and other themed events, and more. Kit Carson Electric has donated a building to the group for the project but it needs significant repairs. Over the past few years, the teens have raised more than $160,000—in part through sales from the food truck they launched—to renovate the building into the space they imagine. They just needed a little help to get over the final financial hump and reached out to LOR for help. LOR’s funding will help pay for construction supplies and services to support the creation of the co-op, which will be run and staffed by teens (with adult supervision provided through Dreamtree Project).