A scene from the short documentary film No Single Origin.
1951 Coffee Company, a non-profit founded in 2015, works in the spirit of the 1951 Refugee Convention to promote the wellbeing of the refugee community through job training and employment in the coffee industry. With two of its three cafés in the San Francisco Bay Area closed due to Covid-19, and its barista training program on hiatus, 1951 Coffee is seeking creative ways to continue to educate communities about refugee life and issues.
The nonprofit specialty coffee organization partnered with HOME Storytellers, a nonprofit that uses visual storytelling to amplify solutions to the refugee crisis, to produce the short film No Single Origin. The documentary, which explores the complexities of refugee resettlement in the United States, and how coffee provides a path for community driven support, education, and integration, premiered on Sept. 30 and is now available for streaming at https://www.1951coffee.com/no-single-origin.
No Single Origin follows Tennessee native Doug Hewitt as he learns about the complexity of refugee resettlement through volunteering and working with the refugee community in the San Francisco Bay Area. In order to offer refugees and asylum seekers much-needed support as they build a new home in the United States, Hewitt turns to the coffee industry to create a launchpad toward a path of self-sufficiency and starts the nonprofit 1951 Coffee Company, providing barista training and employment for refugees in Berkeley, California. Three graduates from 1951 Coffee’s barista training program share their experiences, revealing their challenges and struggles after resettlement. A profound friendship unfolds when the four stories converge, highlighting the importance of human connection and community driven support, education, and integration.