Today’s AMAZING KARMA! story visits with Danielle Young, owner of Revival Eastside Eatery and Street Dog Cafe in Waco, TX.
Danielle opened Street Dog Cafe in 2023, a bakery and coffee shop with a soft spot for our little furry friends! Since day 1 she’s had a mission to help shelter dogs find new homes. She hosts an adoptable dog from local animal shelters each week with playtime and a photoshoot at the cafe. These photos end up on a wall at the cafe and also on social media to help spread the word! Here’s her story:
Danielle with Louise
HI DANIELLE! TELL US HOW YOU GOT HERE.
My husband Travis and I moved to Waco in 2011. I attended Baylor University and obtained my doctorate degree in clinical psychology.
By 2017 I was teaching at Baylor University and seeing clients at a local group practice. We started thinking about our first business, to offer healthy food options and great service in a welcoming environment. In 2019 Revival Eastside Eatery opened its doors! It’s a casual spot where people can gather for conversation and enjoy a meal. We wanted to provide that while also supporting local and taking good care of our staff.
Opening a restaurant has been the hardest, yet most rewarding thing I’ve ever done. We are thankful for our Waco community regulars who support us!
Fast forward three years. I’d known the owner of Lula Jane’s Bakery since the days I spent writing my dissertation there. When she told me she was closing her business, it gave me the chance to create a new kind of neighborhood coffee shop. Street Dog Cafe serves healthy food, delicious pastries and the best tasting coffee!
Adoptable dogs on Street Dog Cafe wall
WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO HELP SHELTER DOGS?
I’ve loved dogs all my life!
One day before we moved to Waco, a stray chocolate lab pit mix wandered up to my husband in his apartment complex. We named her Bella! She inspired me to foster other dogs, especially pitties who are adorable balls of energy but often misunderstood.
By the time the idea for a coffee shop came along, I was also volunteering at the local animal shelter. My heart broke for all the dogs who needed new homes and someone to love. I decided to give our coffee shop the mission to help them, and from that Street Dog Cafe came to life!
Rune
WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR SOMEONE TO SUPPORT YOUR BUSINESS?
The support from our community and customers means the world to me!
It helps us provide a safe “meet and greet" space to organizations like the Humane Society of Central Texas and Pet Circle Waco. Over 30 shelter dogs have found their new family since we first started doing this!
Street Dog Cafe is also a pet food drop-off location. Customers can donate pet food to nonprofits like the Animal Birth Control Clinic. They provide low-cost vet care in the community. We also partner with the Humane Society of Central Texas for our own pet food and supply pantry inside the cafe. Anyone who needs food or supplies can get it free!
By talking about all this on social media, we hope to inspire others to foster or adopt dogs no matter where they are!
Bunny
There’s one more mission that is really important to me. The restaurant business can be hard on both mental and physical health. I want to be as supportive as I can for my staff.
Sometimes situations can be stressful. When this happens, they know that they can take some time to decompress. I encourage them to stay hydrated, perhaps have a snack from our kitchen and clear their mind. We are a safe space for them to do this.
Outside of work, we try to help them stay healthy. We’re thankful to be able to provide our full-time staff with medical and dental insurance – paid in full. This is quite uncommon for our industry.
Another area we try to help with is affordable housing. By growing our business we’ve been able to invest in rental property in the area for our staff. The rent is set at a reasonable price that covers our costs. We now have three rent houses which we know we can keep safe, clean and reliable for them!
Finally, we realize things happen in life. Where we can, we try to “bless" an employee every month with something that’s unexpected. Just last week an employee had her tire blow out while driving to work. She called us first because she doesn’t have family in town and we immediately tried to help her. We ended up paying for a tow truck, tire replacement, and day off to reset!
Noelle
WHAT OTHER SOCIALLY IMPACTFUL BUSINESSES DO YOU LIKE TO SUPPORT?
Here in Waco I love Pop’s Lemonade! It’s a local Black-owned and women-owned small business led by Omari and Abby Head. They’re great owners who care about their team. It makes me happy to support other small businesses who are like minded with loving staff.
In the cafe we serve coffee from Merit Coffee based in San Antonio. They roast great coffee and also give back regularly to their community. They help people facing homelessness and addiction in San Antonio. They support children in foster care throughout Dallas and Fort Worth. They feed kids who need food supplies to get through the weekend. These are just some of the communities that their “Light The Way" program supports!
Evermore
THANKS DANIELLE! LET’S ALL SUPPORT HER AMAZING KARMA BUSINESS!
Where: 406 Elm Ave, Waco, TX 76704
Website: https://www.streetdogcafe.com/
Our Amazing Karma! award was created to tell the story of a small business doing something exceptional. Behind each of these small businesses is an incredible person doing it even though they don’t have to, and spreading good karma when they do!
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