To help Tampa’s homeless, Breadcoin is a new kind of pocket change
On a recent chilly Wednesday morning, June Brown took more than 30 people to coffee at downtown Tampa’s Portico Cafe.
Homeless, they came into the warm morning space to get theirs black or with cream and lots of sugar, to order a latte or a hot tea.
Brown, the homeless liaison with the Tampa Downtown Partnership, paid not with cash or credit card, but with what’s called Breadcoin — actual minted coins good at a small but growing number of restaurants. She carries two rolls of the coins on her daily rounds, good for coffee or a meal for people who look like they could use it.
“When they introduced the Breadcoin to me, I took it and ran with it,” she said.
Breadcoin launched in Washington, D.C., in 2016 with the goal of lessening the stigma of being homeless or hungry. The program emphasizes the dignity in someone being able to select their own breakfast burrito or turkey club — both popular at Portico — which is a different experience from sack lunches and group feedings available around the city.
“It means a lot to them when they can just order something they want, of their choice,” said Brown. “It makes them feel like they’re worth something.”
Fans of the program point to the added bonus of boosting small businesses, which get reimbursed for the Breadcoin spent there.
Here’s how Breadcoin, which started circulating in downtown Tampa in February, works:
The coins get distributed by those who work with homeless people, by volunteers, churches and individuals who buy them to give out instead of cash. Restaurants and food trucks agree to accept the coins, which are worth $2.50 each, no change given.
The local business twist: The nonprofit Breadcoin program is funded by recurring donations and corporate gifts. Each month, coins are collected from participating restaurants, which get fully reimbursed.
“Businesses aren’t being asked for a handout,” said Rachel Radawec, director of public space operations and programing for the nonprofit Downtown Partnership, which manages the district in an agreement with the city. “We are still injecting those funds into downtown businesses or food trucks.”
Michael Doyle, a co-founder of the local program who heads up coin distribution, estimates about 5,000 coins are currently in circulation.
“I get the coins, rinse and repeat,” he said.
Doyle said Breadcoin works best for small businesses where every cup of coffee sold is important. “This is a smaller ma-and-pa that needs to make payroll,” he said.
At Portico, the first of three local businesses to sign on, things started out slow with about 100 coins coming in the first month. But in October, they took in nearly 900, and are averaging 500 a month, said cafe operations manager Mindi Vaughan.
“It’s definitely increased our revenue,” she said. “And it helps us serve the city in a unique way.” Breadcoin is a particular fit for the cafe, which is part of Hyde Park United Methodist Church, known for its homeless outreach.
According to breadcoin.org , the original effort spread from Washington to Baltimore with 70 participating vendors. Doyle says that program now has 150. Breadcoin also operates in Pennsylvania.
So far in Tampa it’s Portico, Moxie’s restaurant and Aristotle’s Food for Thought food truck, with two more restaurants coming soon. Recruiting food truck vendors — perhaps less leery than sit-down restaurants about homeless customers and the belongings they sometimes carry — is a focus.
Homeless advocates also tout Breadcoin’s single purpose: The coins can only be used for food, not to feed an addiction.
“I never know when I give to a panhandler where the money’s going,” Doyle said.
Vaughan at Portico said it was “really just a dignifying experience for people to be able to come into a restaurant, to not be shooed away, to look at the menu and be able to purchase what they want and then go on about their day.”
