“I’m incredibly grateful for this white-collar 9-to-5 job, five days a week. It’s truly a dream job!” Suparat works as a barista at Google’s office in Paris. She’s placed there by Change Please, an organization that helps people experiencing homelessness build a better future through an impact program that provides barista training and employment in hospitality. Change Please is active at more than 800 locations across five countries.

Suparat emigrated from Thailand to France after falling in love with a Frenchman. But her romantic dreams quickly unraveled in Paris. After a difficult and unsafe marriage, she left her husband with her children. She managed to make ends meet with various low-paying jobs, which kept her away from home and her children most of the time. She also risked losing her home due to having no official income on paper. Through a local charity, she came into contact with Change Please, which offered her barista training through its impact program. Armed with new skills and a certificate, she was able to start working within six months as a barista at Google’s Paris office, via catering partner API. “I always dreamed of having a white-collar job in a corporate environment – and now I do! This is my Paris love story now. And I love it!”

“Oh, and I also get a free healthy lunch from Google every day,” she adds with a laugh when we visit her at the office's coffee bar.
Suparat on the roof of the office of Google Paris

About Change Please

Change Please started in London in 2015 with the goal of tackling the growing problem of homelessness and its devastating impact on individuals and society. The Change Please impact program offers barista training, employment in hospitality, and a path to a better future. The training lasts seven months. After that, Change Please helps participants find suitable jobs in hospitality or corporate environments.

The organization is now active in more than 800 locations in cities across the UK, US, Germany, France, and Australia. Nearly 1,000 people have gone through the program, and 70% of them secured paid jobs after completing it.

Change Please sources its beans directly from certified coffee farmers and works with local roasters in each country. All profits from coffee sales are reinvested into the training programs.

Change Please in France

Laurence Mainaud is the managing director in France. In Suparat’s coffee bar, she tells Food Inspiration: “With Change Please, we’re creating a global movement to end homelessness, one cup of coffee at a time, while showing how companies can play a powerful role in solving societal challenges. Because, unfortunately, homelessness is everywhere. What we need most to grow our impact are more companies willing to join our mission.” Trainees are primarily recruited through collaborations with charities that support people living on the streets or in shelters, or those at risk of becoming homeless due to unstable employment. These charities identify people who are ready and motivated to get to work and refer them to Change Please recruitment days. During these sessions, the program is explained and candidates are selected. Mainaud says: “All you need to join our program is a smile and the will to work in hospitality. We teach participants the rest. From the first day of training, they receive a stipend. If needed, we also support them in finding housing, taking language lessons, and managing their finances.”

In Paris, Change Please supplies coffee beans to hundreds of offices. Additionally, 10 in-house coffee bars in various companies are now staffed by graduates of the Change Please program. One of those is the Google office, through catering partner API. When a vacancy opens at one of API’s locations, the caterer notifies Change Please to help identify a suitable candidate. Four people have already been hired this way—Suparat being one of them.

Mainaud: “What’s beautiful about our collaboration with Google is that it supports our full impact loop: Google buys our beans, funding our training programs, and then their caterer API hires our graduates to work in their in-house cafés.”

Highly motivated employees

Jérémy Billard, responsible for operations at Google Paris via API, tells us at Suparat’s coffee bar: “We’re proud of our partnership with Change Please. It allows us to really make a difference for Suparat and others who need it. On top of that, we benefit as a caterer because people who come through the program are often extremely motivated and genuinely happy with their jobs—sometimes even more so than long-time employees.” That definitely goes for Suparat. She beams with joy behind her counter, smiling from ear to ear, and asks us every 10 minutes if we’d like another “cup of love.” She’s clearly proud of her job and her coffee bar. “And most importantly,” adds Mainaud, “she’s safe now.”

As we say goodbye, Suparat calls out to us: “Remember: if you want to change the world, start by changing the coffee you serve.”