The Perez family’s dream of creating a place to foster community and people coming together to lift each other up has been a reality for more than a year.
On March 6, Connect Coffee celebrated their one year grand opening anniversary in Visalia.
Eddie and Susie Perez have gone to Visalia’s Neighborhood Church for many years. While at Susie’s sister’s wedding, they had a conversation with Lead Pastor Forrest Jenan that inspired them to take the leap of opening a coffee shop.
Neighborhood Church was preparing to build a full service coffee shop inside the common area of the church. However, church leaders wanted a separate business to come along and run the coffee shop.
“Connect Coffee is such a gift. By turning our campus into a place where people can be together and form relationships seven days a week,” Jenan said. “At Neighborhood Church we want to add value to the place we call home. Our partnership with Connect allows us to do just that. Eddie and Susie Perez have created a space that makes it easy to sip and stay.”
As a veteran educator in Visalia for over 20 years, Susie was excited to have the opportunity to pursue her passion for quality craft coffee and the dream of creating a place within the community for people to gather and nurture connections.
“We felt like it was the perfect opportunity. We are a licensed business, operation inside the church’s coffee space,” she said. “We lease the space from Neighborhood Church and give back a portion of the profits we earn.”
With indoor and outdoor seating, plenty of space to sit and enjoy the custom drinks and small food items offered, Connect Coffee has options for everyone.
“We want a place for people to sip and stay. Connect Coffee is fully inclusive. Non-church members are welcome,” Susie said. “We have customers come in from all over the Valley. We welcome people to study here, set up their laptops and get work done, have a business meeting or just enjoy catching up with friends.”
Fifteen employees help serve drinks from a core menu that also rotates in seasonal additions. The coffee beans are locally roasted at Component Coffee and are high quality-speciality grade.
“I’m passionate about using higher end ingredients and good techniques for creating hand-crafted coffee,” Susie said. “I’ve always loved good coffee and exploring ways to make it the best quality.”
What to Know
This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta: Connect Coffee in Visalia celebrates one year of community
Reporting by Meade Trueworthy, Special to Visalia Times-Delta / Visalia Times-Delta
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
