Second Chance Coffee Company
Second Chance Coffee Company operates under the premise that we can use every part of our business to “love our neighbor as ourselves” to positively impact the spiritual, social and economic condition of our employees, their families and the communities in which they live.

"I Have a Bean" is the premium brand of coffee roasted and sold by Second Chance Coffee Company, LLC. The company was dreamed up Pete Leonard, Dave Scavotto and Ron deVries at one of our weekly breakfast meetings in early 2007. After much discussion, brain-storming and prayer, we began to believe that we could create a coffee roasting business that would accomplish two things— produce truly exceptional coffee, and help transform the lives of former offenders.

First, the problem
Recidivism. Technically, recidivism is The act of a person repeating an undesirable behavior after they have either experienced negative consequences of that behavior, or have been treated or trained to extinguish that behavior. In this case we’re talking about the seeming never ending cycle of incarceration, release, re-incarceration, re-release, incarceration again... that for some just never seems to end.

Over 20,000 prisoners are released from Illinois State corrections facilities into the Chicago area every year. More than 12,000 of those ex-prisoners are re-incarcerated within three years of release. The cycle of recidivism is a ubiquitous tale of wasted lives and victimized communities that is repeated among more than 600,000 ex-prisoners in communities across our nation each year.

Part of a solution
Employment is just one of the keys to gaining a new life. While the purpose of our company addresses this part of the puzzle head-on, we know that former offenders need more help than can be provided by an employer. The majority of people leaving prison did not finish high school and have little legitimate work experience. Many have drug abuse or psychological problems that must be treated before they are able to hold a regular job. Recognizing that what we offer only addresses part of the problem, Second Chance Coffee Company also works closely with post-prison support organizations that provide the help that we cannot. These organizations share our faith and provide counseling, mentoring, life skills training and a supportive community for the former offenders that we employ.