Tami previously worked for a corporate coffee company, while Ryan is a pastor who struggled with addiction. Although his church hosted Al-Anon meetings in the basement, he says that shame kept him from participating for a long time.
Now he’s maintained his sobriety for almost nine years, relapsing just once. Tami recalls her own struggle to find ways to support her husband in his recovery, noting that she felt excluded from the traditional twelve-step approach that focuses on sponsor/sponsee relationships and less on family. She wanted to be a part of her husband's recovery without coming across as nagging, which led the couple to start the Free Spiritual Community.
It's a place for those "directly and indirectly" affected by addiction — a group that includes nearly everyone, Tami says, especially as deaths from fentanyl continue to rise. According to the annual Colorado Substance Abuse Report, there were over 800 fentanyl-related deaths in the state in 2021, a 260 percent increase from 2019.
Incorporating coffee into the Free Spiritual Community just made sense, Tami adds, partly because there's always coffee at twelve-step meetings — around 90 percent of those in recovery are coffee drinkers. "The coffee is great, and this is my way, my avenue, of reaching out and affecting people’s lives — because helping people is what it’s really about for me," she says.
Free Cafe opened August 8.
Free Cafe
The concept lives up to its name because technically, everything on the menu, from pastries to coffee drinks to paninis and nitro cold brew, is free. The cafe operates on a donation-based model; there are suggested prices, but ultimately, it's up to patrons to decide what they want to pay. But "free" also speaks to the cafe's mission to provide a space where people can find freedom from their addiction.
Free is non-denominational, so although it hosts meetings for a variety of groups like Al-Anon, the organization itself does not adhere to any one type of religious belief. "We do not promote ourselves as a church — we are a spiritual or recovery center — because of the baggage that comes with religion," Tami notes. Free acknowledges that many people, especially those in recovery, have been negatively impacted by religious institutions, so it offers space to many different groups; while some may be happen to be religious, plenty of others are not.
In addition to an espresso bar and the coffee roaster, the cafe has cozy seating around a fireplace, a ping-pong table and booths for those who just want a place to plug in and work, encompassing about 5,000 square feet of the 11,000-square-foot building.
Although it's mostly run by volunteers at the moment, the Canadays hope the cafe will attract attention from the broader community, ultimately leading to more paid opportunities for those directly affected by addiction.
Free Cafe is located at 2122 South Lafayette Street and is open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday and 2 to 9 p.m. Saturday. For more information, visit freespiritialcommunity.com/free-cafe.
