Coffee shop helps former inmates rebuild their lives, 1 cup at a time
By Itinease McMiller
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ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — For many people leaving prison, freedom comes with a new set of challenges, including finding housing, securing employment and convincing others they deserve a second chance. A coffee shop in the basement of Trinity United Methodist Church in Asheville is helping people recently released from prison by giving them a chance to rewrite their stories, one cup at a time.
Deep Time Coffee is more than a place to grab a morning brew. The nonprofit coffee enterprise provides second-chance employment and support for people returning to society after incarceration, helping them build stable lives and brighter futures.
Deep Time Coffee is more than a place to grab a morning brew. The nonprofit coffee enterprise provides second-chance employment and support for people returning to society after incarceration, helping them build stable lives and brighter futures.
“15 years old, I was convicted of second-degree murder,” said Lamar McNeal, who was released from prison last February.
Stories like theirs are often defined by past mistakes. At Deep Time Coffee, those stories are being redefined through opportunity, mentorship and community.
“We are a ministry/enterprise that provides second-chance employment for returning citizens,” Underwood said.
Underwood spent 16 years in prison for selling drugs before deciding to change the course of his life.
“It was just like I got sick and tired of disappointing my mom,” Underwood said. “Once I opened my eyes and started really seeing the truth and the love of God and stuff like that, it allowed me to abstain myself from such activities.” A friend he met while incarcerated later connected him with Deep Time Coffee. Underwood now helps lead a team made up largely of people who have experienced incarceration themselves.
The organization operates through a nine-month Sojourner Program, which provides participants with workforce training, coffee-roasting skills, and a paid stipend while they work toward rebuilding their lives.
But the support extends far beyond employment.
“We’re gonna do what we have to do to help those who are being belittled, derogated, downgraded, whatever the case may be, those who are being outcast, barraged out here. Those who are being ostracized just because of the choices that they made in the past,” Underwood said.
For Lamar McNeal, that support came at a critical moment. After serving 25 years in prison, he knew returning to old habits could send him down a familiar path.
“I knew I had to do something for myself in order to keep from making the same mistakes, because I was on the verge of making the same mistakes,” McNeal said.
He said finding a brotherhood of people who understood his struggles helped him stay focused on a better future.
“Being around the people who were in the same situation with me or similar situations, and then seeing the steps that they took to get themselves in a better position,” McNeal said. “It made me want to try it.”
Deep Time also connects employees with mental health resources, peer support specialists and community organizations — services McNeal credits with helping him overcome a methamphetamine addiction.
“I didn’t think it was possible for me,” McNeal said.
Today, he is not only rebuilding his own life but helping others do the same.
McNeal now mentors men at his halfway house, sharing resources and encouraging them to pursue opportunities they may not know exist, pouring opportunities into the cups of others.
“They’re not understanding the resources they have out here to get the help that they need to get on their feet,” McNeal said. “I tell them about the help that’s out there so they can create a better life for themselves and their family.”
At Deep Time Coffee, every bag roasted and every cup served represents something bigger than coffee. It’s a reminder that second chances are possible, that past mistakes do not have to define a person’s future, and that sometimes the path to a new life begins with someone simply believing you deserve one.
To learn more about Deep Time Coffee’s Sojourner Program, visit deeptimeavl.org.
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