By the time Jacob was 16, he had moved 5 times. He bounced around, living with different family members. At times, he faced abuse at home. Eventually, he moved to Port Orchard to live with his grandpa and began coming to The Coffee Oasis.

Jacob first visited The Coffee Oasis in 2015. At the time, he didn’t attend consistently. But almost a year later, he came back and has been attending regularly ever since. Jacob shared his appreciation of the drop-in center saying, “It’s really nice to be able to come here and to know there’s probably going to be food.” And he expressed that he has found a sense of belonging at The Coffee Oasis drop-in center saying…

“Coffee Oasis is a place where I can have friends and at the same time don’t need to change myself or act differently.”

“If I didn’t have Coffee Oasis… I wouldn’t have any friends and I wouldn’t have anywhere to go during the day or hang out.”

Through the drop-in center, Jacob connected with The Coffee Oasis Youth Development team who helped him set and work towards his goals. They helped him get his ID, his birth certificate, and an Orca card to ride the bus. He completed job prep classes and an internship at Napa Auto Parts. He faced some challenges during his internship, yet in the end he says, “It gave me some valuable lessons.” Jacob is now going through job corp classes to work on getting a job. Someday, Jacob would like to own an arcade to bring people together and have something fun to do.