Regular readers have often heard me mention Homers – a coffee place about two blocks from where I live. Homers is a Christian coffee house, but what I love about it is it’s a comfortable place to hang out or bring friends regardless of their faith. While it’s no secret that Homers is a Christian business, they don’t exactly hit you over the head as soon as you walk in the door with a scary, “Do you know Jesus?” Instead, a newcomer would make this discovery after browsing the books on the book shelves, observing some of the bible study groups that meet there, or showing up for a musical event.
On Friday and Saturday nights there’s live music. During the summer there’s an open jam session called “Picking on the Patio” and when there’s not live music Homers is sort of my office away from home.
I remember when Homers opened five years ago I was thrilled that there would be another coffee place in the neighborhood. There’s another one, Mildred’s, but they close at 6:00pm. I’ve never been able to figure out why.
But the opening of Homers meant there was some place, besides a bar, where one could go hang out, work, read, drink good coffee and make conversation. When I just can’t stand my four walls another minute, I can pick up what I’m doing and go to Homers. It’s like Norm walking into Cheers – everyone knows my name.
Homers was also the site of my very first HPS fundraiser. They were the first business that responded when I asked for help and let me sell coupon books on their porch on a busy Saturday afternoon. It wasn’t a spectacular fundraiser, but I raised $56 that afternoon, which I then spent on another fundraiser, which then helped to fund the first Groundhog Trivia Tournament. The Tournament, in turn, helped to fund our booth at the American Thoracic Society these past few years which has helped us outreach to 17,000 lung doctors and researchers. Isn’t it amazing what one simple act of kindness can morph into?
So, you could say Homers has a special place in my heart. And, I was quite pleased to see that Homers, as well as the owner Jim, have blogs. I’m adding them to the blogroll here. Now, if I could ever figure out how to host music, maybe I could finagle a sample of “I’m a barista” out of the Homers staff. You really should see them sing it sometime!
Read the Homers community blog at: www.homerscoffeehouse.blogspot.com
Read the blog of Jim Mathis, founder of Homers at: http://www.jimmathis.blogspot.com
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