February 11, 2025

Restoration Roasters, a Corona coffee shop, is serving the Inland Empire not only with its coffee but with its heart for the homeless.

The business structure allows 100 percent of the net proceeds to go toward helping the Corona Norco Rescue Mission. People from the rescue mission serve alongside volunteers to provide customers with an aromatic cup of coffee.

Many homeless people are put in a program through the rescue mission to help restore their lives. They are given the opportunity to get vocational training at the coffee shop for future careers in coffee.

“One of the things that touches a special place in my heart is the opportunity to actually restore people and we get to do that day in and day out,” said Blake Ryan, rescue mission director and founder of Restoration Roasters.

Volunteers are always welcomed to apply to help in the shop alongside those from the rescue mission.

After applying, volunteers are trained to prepare coffee and clean the store. The wages they normally would have been paid go toward the mission.

Derek Tripp, Restoration Roasters volunteer, said he enjoys the positive energy his coworkers exhibit and said his life is being changed, too.

“In a way, God is moving in my life using this place to make me into the person he needs me to be for the next chapter in my life,” Tripp said.

Tyler Perry, senior applied theology major, said he enjoys the charitable aspects of the company.

“I always prefer to support something that serves the kingdom, especially rescue missions,” Perry said.

Ryan compares the journey of a coffee bean to the journey those at the rescue mission go through. He said each bean is handpicked and goes through a refining fire to get the aroma and flavor to enjoy.

“The story of the coffee bean reminded me of our own story,” Ryan said on the shop’s website. “The human story, is God has handpicked each of us at the perfect time along our journey and that we too must go through the refining fire before we can reach our full potential and become a pleasing aroma to him.”

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