Fresh coffees signal fresh starts

A cafe is opening in Lower Hutt with the aim to help former prisoners reintegrate back into society.

Wellington charity Trade School Industries Trust will open Trade School Kitchen on Naenae’s Everest Ave in early August.

The trust runs an eight-week barista training course for inmates at Arohata Women’s Prison in Tawa, and will employ two graduates in the cafe.

The former inmates will be employed for about six months at a time, after which the trust will evaluate its next step and help the women find work in the hospitality industry if they are ready.

Trust chairman Matthew Lamason said the idea behind the cafe was ‘‘jobs not jails’’ – reducing reoffending by increasing employment opportunities for former prisoners.

‘‘We’re trying to create a dignified and holistic response to recidivism. We’re looking at the struggles of when you get out of prison – how do you be your best self, how do you live the life you want to live?’’

The trust’s training and reintegration co-ordinator, Lauren Tennent, heads the barista training in Arohata Prison.

Tennent hoped initiatives such as this would decrease the stigma around those with a prison past. ‘‘It’s about giving people a second chance in life, and that makes communities stronger.’’