On Monday, March 3, Amy Mays, founder and executive director of Happy Crew, saw a longtime dream become a reality. It was the first day that the Happy Crew Coffee House opened for business.

For more than 30 years, Amy has worked alongside teens and learned something crucial that became Happy Crew’s purpose: teens need places where they feel they truly belong, where getting support does not feel like a big deal. Her idea for the Coffee House expanded on that: great coffee and good work can help create better support for local teens.

“I love teenagers. I think they are the coolest people on the planet,” said Amy. “And I know that they are our world changers; they are the people who are going to do it.”

Happy Crew is a nonprofit with a mission to destigmatize mental health issues by creating a supportive, inclusive community where everyone knows they matter. What started with just a few students meeting weekly in Amy’s Highlands Ranch living room grew steadily throughout the years. Happy Crew kicked into high gear during the 2014-2015 school year due to a tragic spike in teen suicides, with eight teenagers lost that year. According to findings by the state of Colorado and Douglas County, suicide continues to be a leading cause of death among teenagers.

In 2023, Douglas County granted Happy Crew $240,000 from the American Rescue Plan Act. The funding, combined with grant funding from the Douglas County Community Foundation, created the momentum to find the ideal space for the Coffee House—something well lit, comforting and inviting, just as Amy’s home had always been. She found this at the Business Foundry in Lone Tree, which offers flexible workspace options, business support services and community-building initiatives. The Coffee House uses the Business Foundry’s monthly membership model to sustain operations and fund all Happy Crew programs and events. Three types of memberships are offered—individual, corporate and student—where each purchase supports youth mental health initiatives, and unused monthly credits automatically become tax-deductible donations to Happy Crew.

With a membership, Coffee House members can do what they would do anyway—grab coffee, meet clients, get work done—but now these everyday moments help fund and sustain youth mental health programs. And in the evenings, the space becomes home to Happy Crew’s programs, where teens find themselves in a place built by their community where getting support feels as comfortable as meeting a friend for coffee.

Last December, when Happy Crew met for the last time in Amy’s home, there were more than 80 teens attending weekly meetings. In the 2024-2025 school year, Happy Crew will host a total of 23 weekly meetings that bring together an average of 75 students each time. Already,183 different teens have found community through Happy Crew this year alone—and they are on track to connect with more than 200 students before summer.

But Amy believes there is much more to do recognizing that there are 15,000 students who attend Douglas County high schools within eight miles of the Coffee House.

“Every single one of them should come here,” Amy said. “This is their second family. They can learn things now that will greatly impact them for the rest of their lives: to build the strongest person they can be and build the strongest community.”

For more information on Happy Crew, visit thehappycrew.org, and for information about Happy Crew Coffee House, visit happycrewcoffeehouse.com.

See the slideshow of more photos from the event HERE.

 

By Sara Goodwin; photos courtesy of Terri Wiebold