The Monkey & The Elephant

May is Foster Care Awareness Month! Please consider a donation to help our work with youth aging out of foster care and check out this lovely feature on Good Morning America!

A recipe for success A Philadelphia café employs young adults aging out of the foster care system.

Come out and join us May 15th 3-5 for a drink and support our program! As an organization dedicated to supporting and employing youth aging out of foster care, we like to spend May (foster care awareness month) sharing resources and supporting our programming.

Blossom Happy Hour Fundraiser Join us at Triple Bottom Brewery to celebrate and support our mission to employ and support youth aging out of foster care.

Come through Friday Nov. 5th to check out some new artwork by .el - yummy Filipino lumpia by and sneak peek of the Safexsound film

It's now easier to send The Monkey & The Elephant a message.

We are hiring for shift leaders! Help us spread the word!

Barista - Shift Leader (PART TIME or FULL TIME) The Monkey & The Elephant is now hiring for the position of Barista - Shift Leader (PART TIME or FULL TIME) in Philadelphia. Apply today.

Thank you to everyone who came out this past Friday for at M&E to check out and score some awesome pieces painted by There’s still a few pieces still available for sale. for more details regarding our next event at the cafe✨

💫First Fridays are baaaack at M&E! Join us this Friday (June 4th) to view and celebrate an art installation created by our very own K’von Harris-Robinson. ✨

K’von is our newly promoted Café manager and a graduate of the M&E program.

All of the artwork will be available for purchase and 100% of the proceeds go directly to the artist. This event is a socially distanced open-house style event and masks are required inside of the cafe.

⬅️to check out some of the beautiful paintings that will be on display this Friday!

We’ve got fresh squeezed lemonade available at the café! Here at M&E we’ve been making lemons into lemonade since 2015. Our goal is to help under resourced young adults acquire the confidence and skill they need as they embark on their employment journey.

Ice, Ice, (Coffee) Baby! Our delicious Cold Brew coffee is back, so be sure to stop by the cafe and pick up a refreshing chilled brew.

By choosing to purchase coffee and baked goods from our shop, you are also supporting the former foster youth in our program.

K’von went from Program Employee to Shift Leader, Merchandise Coordinator to Cafe Manager. His favorite drink is one he brought to the cafe: an Iced Cinnamon Toast Latte with oat milk and lots of whipped cream. Kvon strives to be a Physician Assistant who specializes in psychiatric care. There are so many things to love about M&E, but what he loves most is the relationship he has built with his team. He’s an artist who loves to travel and if there’s anything he wants people to know about aging out of care it's that there is so much more to life to learn and that we are not statistics.

Ruby
Ruby is a former program employee and current Shift Leader. She enjoys cooling down on a hot day with our caramel freddo with plain mocha syrup. In her free time, Ruby is studying to be a welder, and she aspires to have a successful career in welding one day. She loves how M&E brings the Brewerytown community together to support those who need it most. Ruby wants to encourage former foster youth not to rush things that need time to grow. It’s all about the journey!

Lauren is the Operations Coordinator and a Shift Leader at M&E. Our shop inspired her to one day open a similar nonprofit employment program for youth aged out of foster care in a rural setting. Lauren’s favorite drink is K’von’s creation: an iced cinnamon toast latte with whipped cream. Before coming to M&E, Lauren was a seventh grade English teacher in West Philly. She cherishes the relationships she has created at M&E and has learned profound lessons from the young people we serve. Lauren typically opens the shop during the week, so stop by for a friendly welcome!

We can’t wait to introduce our next team member... we love Deon!

Deon is a former Program Employee and a current Shift Leader in Training. His favorite drink is a matcha latte. For him, success looks like receiving certificates in many different specializations and honing a variety of skills. Deon’s favorite thing about working at M&E is the family-oriented feel and close-knit community. Something you might not know about Deon is that he loves sneakers! His advice to young adults aging out of foster care is to keep hope and faith alive and remember to be flexible because often things do not go as planned.

In Philadelphia, during the pandemic, 1 in 5 youth reported that they are entirely on their own. One of the key things that transition age youth often miss out on is a support system. Here at M&E, we provide a supportive space to learn and grow as well as paid work experience with intentional training and coaching.

It’s Meet the Staff Week here at M&E! We are lucky to work with Amanie, and we can’t wait for her to lead the floor!

Amanie is a Program Employee and Shift Leader in Training at M&E. Her favorite cafe drink is our vanilla iced chai latte. The valedictorian of her middle school, Amanie dreams to run a cafe of her own one day. Come by the shop to taste her delicious pastries and weekly specials. Amanie’s advice to others aging out of foster care is to save money and be overly prepared for the unexpected.

Nationally, only about 10 percent of all young people ages 16 to 24 are unemployed.

But the unemployment rate for young people aging out of foster care is 47 percent to 69
percent, depending on age and gender.

Source: Hook, J. L.; Courtney, M. E. (2010)

In celebration of Foster Care Awareness Month, meet the team members who make M&E a special place. We are so happy to introduce Josh!

Josh is one of our program employees. Their favorite cafe drink is a chai tea latte with oat milk. They aspire to give back to their community in the same way that they’ve been blessed by community support. Josh’s ability to bring a positive attitude to any situation demonstrates their resiliency. They want young adults aging out of foster care to know that the journey can be difficult, but if you keep your head up, it gets better. Stop by and see Josh on the weekends for some amazing customer service.

Did you know that in Philadelphia, not only did nearly 65% of transition age youth lose their employment; but half of those who applied for unemployment benefits did not receive assistance?

Help us raise awareness and spread the word regarding the obstacles transition-age foster youth face every day.

Josh and Anne had a fun partner meeting with the folks at College Together in the garden today. Good vibes, sunshine, muffins and vaccines all around!

Thanks to local artists and , these pre-designed cards are included in our card making kits. Get yours today!

Each card-making kit includes blank cards, colored pencils, watercolor paints AND these beautiful cards. Take a moment and send some love to someone in your life. All proceeds will support our mission to fortify former foster youth. Kits are available for pick up beginning today.

Use the link in our bio to purchase a “to go” card making kit and celebrate Foster Care Awareness month with us.

Due to COVID-19 concerns, M&E is closing out of an abundance of caution. Please follow our Instagram for updates on when we can safely reopen.

Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman reminds us that "victory would be George Floyd being alive. Every day [that] Black Americans worry if they will be next is another day without justice." We are grateful that Derek Chavin was found guilty on all three counts for the murder of George Floyd. We know that this accountability is just a start. As one of our program employees, Amanie, explains, "This is the beginning of a movement." Our work toward justice continues, and our commitment is unwavering.

This week’s special is Oreo Cheesecake Bites! We have limited stock, so get yours while you can. K’von and Amanie worked together to create these delicious treats, and we can’t wait for you to try them!

We’re in awe of these timeless pieces!

Linda Price is a visual artist from Philadelphia. Her drawings, prints, and photography have explored themes including interpersonal relationships, the vernacular of the mundane, and the intersection of communal folklore and private storytelling. For over a decade, she has sought to create meaningful arts-based programming for and with people from marginalized communities, and recently expanded this work to include urban farming.

We are honored to have Linda’s work on our walls! Come by M&E through the end of the month to view and purchase her drawings. You can also check out Linda’s photo work at ellesuzanne.tumblr.com