New Coffee Shop to Open with Community Focus

Mo’s Coffee House & Gathering Place is planned to open its doors at 887 South Walnut Street in Colville this spring. The project is led by the Momentum Church in Colville, and is being built where the former Matney Youth House was located. “The dream is to create a coffee house with a way to both bless the community and create community,” said Sean Wilkerson, lead pastor at Momentum Church. “Throughout history, the well was where people crossed paths, shared stories, and cared for one another,” said Wilkerson. “That’s our hope for Mo’s. Whatever your story or season of life, we want you to feel that there is a place for you here.” Alongside daily coffeehouse use, Wilkerson said Mo’s Coffee House & Gathering Place will host student activities and mentoring, nonprofit collaboration, educational workshops, support gatherings, and meetings for local groups, and community dinners. He added that its purpose is to give students, families, seniors, volunteers, organizations, and neighbors a consistent place to build relationships and connect with practical support. “We are not building a church,” he said. “Mo’s will be a nonprofit coffee shop that is owned by the church but is separate in banking, accounting, budgeting, etc. All net profits will go to help children and families both locally and globally.”

Mo’s, which is short for Momentum, will also offer baked goods and have its own brand character. “Our mascot is Mo the Buffalo, because they are communal animals; they need community, and connection makes them super resilient, like Colville. We are better and more resilient together. Buffalo are constantly moving and moving forward,” Wilkerson said, adding that Mo’s Coffee House & Gathering Place will be centered on community, resilience, and generosity. Momentum Church has received two separate grants from Avista to help fund the coffee shop project. Wilkerson said one grant is for $315,904 and comes from Avista’s Named Communities Investment Funds; it will pay for solar panels, lighting, batteries, two electric vehicle chargers, and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning. The other grant is for $52,000 and comes from Avista’s My Clean Energy fund which will support a 16-kilowatt solar installation. “We are deeply grateful to Avista for believing in this vision and investing in the systems that will help sustain it,” Wilkerson said. Avista is not the only company that has helped with the project. Vaagen’s gave a discount on lumber for the new coffee shop, and members of the church community have donated funds and are framing the building as well, he said. “We have various mentors that have advised us along the way making this project happen. We did a lot of the dirt work ourselves,” Wilkerson said.

He continued, “We had 16 people last week take time off work to help build. It is so humbling to see them invest their time to help frame out the building. We don’t want to talk about doing good; we just want to do good. Wilkerson said he spent his early years working as a shift supervisor at a coffee shop in order to support his family. “My wife and I worked in the ministry full time while supported by Starbucks. It was fun. I worked 20-40 hours a week as a barista with full benefits. Now, I’m a fully vocational pastor.” According to Wilkerson, building Mo’s Coffee House & Gathering Place is not only a responsibility but a calling. “It says in the Bible that a follower of Jesus should pray for the betterment of their city. Jesus went to the outcasts and those who were low-regarded and healed them, loved them.” He also shared that his own experiences with food insecurity have influenced the desire to give back to the community. “Growing up, I was poor. I was a kid who ate a lot of meals from the food bank. I was so floored by the generosity of others. That is why Mo’s will be a coffee house and a bakery. That is why folks can come in and be a part of the community.”

Wilkerson said he anticipates Mo’s Coffee House & Gathering Place hours of operation to be Monday through Friday, 6 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Saturdays from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m.; and Sundays from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mo’s Coffee House & Gathering Place may host evening meals and group gatherings after hours. Wilkerson said he plans on being general manager, with hopes to hire a full time manager and up to 10 part-time employees. For more information, call Momentum Church – Assembly of God at 509-684-4721.