A Portland nonprofit coffee shop that trains immigrants and refugees for their first U.S. jobs is opening a second location this weekend, expanding a model that pairs espresso drinks with paid stipends and English language practice. Jubilee Hall will hold its grand opening Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Array Food Hall, located at 540 NE 99th Ave. in Northeast Portland, inside the affordable Timberview apartments.
Jubilee Hall opened its first location near Northeast 122nd Avenue and Burnside Street in Portland, according to KOIN, before growing out of pop-up events into a full storefront. That original site opened in February 2023 on the ground floor of Central City Concern's Blackburn Center at 12175 E. Burnside St., a building that integrates supportive housing and health services with commercial community space, as reported by Bridgetown Bites. Co-founder Khupsamlian “Sam” Khaute launched the nonprofit as the charitable wing of Diaspora Coffee & Chai Co., drawing on his own experience arriving from northeast India in 2013 and landing his first American job at an immigrant-owned coffee shop after struggling with language and experience barriers, per the same outlet.
A Training Ground Built Into the Coffee Counter
Jubilee Hall provides real-world job experience, English practice, and paid stipends for immigrant and refugee trainees, KOIN reports. The program runs three to six months and offers living-wage stipends, an end-of-program completion bonus, on-site English language instruction, and career networking connections, according to the Portland Tribune. Co-founder Jesse Prichard, who holds a Master of Arts in TESOL, or Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, designed the shop as a real-world classroom that combines vocational barista training with language instruction, per Jubilee Hall PDX's own team page.
Prichard told KOIN that trainees build skills and gain experience that can help them move into other jobs, and that some have gone on to amazing things after finishing the program. He said many immigrants and refugees arrive in the U.S. with years of experience that can be overlooked in the workforce, and that they bring a vast set of skills many U.S. baristas or workers simply do not have. Jubilee Hall PDX was formally established and granted 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit status in November 2020, more than two years before its first storefront opened, according to ProPublica.
Why the Array Food Hall Location Fits the Mission
Jubilee Hall chooses locations that trainees can access by public transit or on foot, the station notes, and the new spot at Northeast 99th Avenue and Glisan Street continues that pattern. The Array Food Hall sits on the ground level of Timberview VIII, an eight-story, 105-unit affordable housing development that stands as the tallest mass-timber residential building in Oregon, according to Montavilla News. The building was designed with move-in-ready restaurant stalls and shared common seating specifically to eliminate heavy build-out expenses for local small businesses and nonprofit operators, the outlet reports.
Jubilee Hall is one of five tenants inside Array Food Hall, joining Thai Carnation, Poke Delight, Taqueria Nuevo Camino, and Cascadia Taphouse in the shared space, per Array Food Hall. Prichard said the second location gives Jubilee Hall the opportunity to do more of its work, using the new space to continue training trainees the same way it has at the original Burnside site.
Keeping Prices Low as the Nonprofit Grows
Jubilee Hall keeps prices low to serve the surrounding neighborhood, and Prichard said the shop wants to be a local gathering place, meaning its prices must reflect that. He acknowledged that keeping prices low may result in less revenue, a tension that sits at the center of running a nonprofit cafe across two sites while still covering training stipends and operating costs. Saturday's grand opening will include samples, bingo, and a photo booth, KOIN reports.
The expansion arrives against a backdrop of a substantial foreign-born workforce in Oregon. The state is home to more than 404,000 foreign-born residents who make up 18% of Oregon's total labor force and speak more than 160 languages, according to a state bulletin distributed through GovDelivery. Foreign-born workers in Oregon also maintain a higher labor force participation rate of 68.6% and a lower unemployment rate of 4.1% than native-born workers, according to U.S. Census Bureau microdata analyzed by state economists and published by QualityInfo.org.
