DECATUR, Ga. — As late as final month, Waller’s Coffee Shop in Decatur was famous for uke jams and open mics … In a space, it cultivated community.
“This place is a place of gathering,” pronounced Jason Waller, a male who started a coffee shop. “So when we were told we couldn’t gather, that was flattering harmful for us.”
Today, Jason Waller sits outward what is now a six-hour-a-day drive-thru. Waller’s is flourishing on cups and donations.
“We’re anticipating that this will keep us alive as a business,” Waller said. “For a foreseeable future.”
But it has never only been a business. Waller battled basin both as a child and as an adult. He filled his emporium with signs and guides to mislay a tarnish around mental health.
“Human tie is unequivocally critical here,” he told 11Alive’s Matt Pearl. “People feel this is a place they can be themselves, where they can be vulnerable.”
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So on Tuesday, Waller took his village virtual. The coffee emporium hosted a Facebook open mic. Patrons and musicians strummed from their sofas.
“It only felt perfect,” Waller said. “Like, ‘Hey, stay home … though let’s share. Let’s still live community.’”
Waller also done famous a 30 percent bonus for any health caring worker. But that never happened. Why?
“Before we woke up, somebody sent me $40 to compensate for drinks for medical workers,” he said.
Forty dollars has incited into 180 giveaway coffees, prepared for pick-up.
“The fact that we have 180 giveaway coffees to give to health caring workers right now has zero to do with us,” Waller said. “It’s all about a community.”
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It’s that word that brings strength. Waller’s business is cramped to a few feet. His goal is boundless.
“To see a additional volume of kindness,” he said, “on a Internet or even 6 feet to 6 feet, it’s unequivocally enlivening to see that side of a tellurian suggestion shine.”
Waller’s Coffee Shop
240 DeKalb Industrial Way
Decatur, Ga. 30033
404-375-3060
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