Addressing poverty and homelessness requires a combination of effective government policies and innovative community initiatives. Below, we examine countries that have been notably successful in the past decade (and beyond), highlighting their most impactful programs, laws, and practices. For each country, we discuss outcomes, effectiveness, scalability, and how similar strategies might be adapted in the United States.

A Pay It Forward Board is a simple, low-cost way to fight food insecurity, build community loyalty, and highlight your business as a hub of kindness. Customers buy meals (or drinks) for others in advance, and those in need can discreetly redeem them—no questions asked

a workplace built on the Seven Cooperative Principles, the global guidebook for worker-owned businesses. At Beanchain, these principles aren’t abstract ideals; they’re daily practices that shape how we work together, share responsibility, and serve our community.

The Solution Seeking System (SSS) is a structured communication framework designed to help individuals and organizations solve interpersonal problems, navigate conflict, and continuously improve their shared environments. It was developed at Beanchain Coffee—a worker-directed café committed to cooperative principles—as a way to foster understanding, accountability, and trust without relying on traditional hierarchical discipline systems.

My wife Shannon and I created Beanchain as a living experiment in economic justice. It’s a worker-directed company—meaning we’re building a workplace where decisions are shared, wages are fair, and power is distributed. We’ve built in casual voting, open forums, and teams that allow people to earn more by taking on more responsibility. We’re moving steadily toward a living wage and a path to cooperative ownership.

Beanchain Coffee isn’t your ordinary coffee shop. Based in Mesa, Arizona, Beanchain is pioneering a unique model—worker-directed businesses that prioritize fairness, solidarity, and community support. If you share these values, there are plenty of meaningful ways you can get involved in supporting and furthering Beanchain’s mission.

Beanchain's core mission is ambitious and clear: to build fair, worker-directed coffee shops that genuinely serve their communities. Beyond just a place to gather, drink coffee, and work, Beanchain aims to empower its workers, fight poverty, and promote a broader cultural shift toward worker ownership and democratic workplaces.

10 Reasons Beanchain Coffee is the Best Coffee Shop in Mesa! At Beanchain Coffee, we’ve built more than just a coffee shop—we’ve built a community. While it might seem bold to say we’re the best, here are ten heartfelt reasons we genuinely think our little café is special

Beanchain Coffee is a worker-directed coffee shop in Mesa, Arizona. It’s more than a café—it’s a real-world experiment proving that business can be fair, democratic, and community-focused.

Welcome to a comprehensive 14-month study plan designed to take a Scottish Gaelic learner from basic phrases to conversational fluency. This plan is structured month-by-month, assuming ~3 hours of self-study per week (ideally split into daily 30–45 minute sessions). It emphasizes free or affordable resources (under $100 total) and avoids travel or immersive exchanges, focusing instead on at-home study techniques.

NOTE FROM BEANCHAIN TEAM We use ChatGPT to help us research reports on certain ideas and topics to get the ball rolling for our own...

Since we opened our doors, Beanchain has been more than a place to get a great cup of coffee. We set out to prove that a business can thrive when it puts people first—whether that’s the people working behind the counter, the neighbors who stop in every morning, or the folks who just need a place to feel welcome. If you’ve ever wondered what makes Beanchain so community-centered, here are a few of the features that shape our space and our mission every day.