Our founder, Nancy Sawyer-Molina, launched the Coffee Connection in 2001 in the South Wedge neighborhood in Rochester NY. The wholesale and retail coffee business provided job skills and a supportive, sober-support environment for women in recovery from addiction. In 2011, Joy Bergfalk, founder of Project Empower, became the executive director and merged the program with the business to empower women in recovery from addiction, trauma, and incarceration.

As we move into our second 20 years, the Coffee Connection’s focus is workforce development designed for women in recovery and professional development. Our goal - for women in the program to not only manage the daily operations of the business as they do now, but for them to provide the executive leadership for the nonprofit organization and business.

Our customers support our mission by coming for great coffee and food at our stores on South Avenue and at the Marketplace Mall - by buying our coffee wholesale for their businesses and churches - by having us cater their events - and through their donations and gifts of time and energy as our wonderful volunteers.