My Favorite Ride: Seminary Park's 'Coffee Lady' needs a new ride to keep her mission going

It's time to take Heather Lake's 2007 Dodge Caliber off the road. It was like a gift from above when she bought it from a friend for $1,000, but the cost of fixing the heater and other things have surpassed the purchase price.

Then last month it broke down, and the diagnosis wasn't optimistic: electrical wiring and transmission issues. The vehicle is back on the road for now, but likely not for long.

She went 12 years without a car before getting this one in November 2020.

"It changed my life," she recalled. "There were so many things I could do. And I didn't have to ride the bus for an hour or walk to the store. I've loved this car."

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Because of the work she does, Lake needs a reliable vehicle. Her vocation is volunteering, helping unhoused people get a warm start to the day, or something else to make life easier when someone has few possessions and no home.

People know Lake as The Coffee Lady. At Seminary Park, where people experiencing homelessness congregate, nearly everyone knows the 52 year old. She arrives at the park in the heart of Bloomington on Saturday mornings with just-percolated coffee from home, hot water for tea, creamer, sugar and packaged snacks.

If it rains or snows Saturday mornings, she comes to the park just south of downtown Bloomington on Sunday afternoon instead, after services at Trinity Episcopal Church.

Her Dodge is laden with donations and items she buys to help others, all stacked in plastic bins in the back. Lake was shopping at Kroger Thursday afternoon when she saw a homeless man she knows from the park.

She gave him groceries, some socks, a pair of gloves and a donated canine coat for his dog. "Sometimes, I just drive to the park and hand things out. There's no schedule or anything. It's spontaneous."

Lake, chair of the Bloomington Homeless Coalition Board, isn't employed by a social service agency. She's got no boss and no workplace goals other than helping out unhoused people as best she can. "I'm just a volunteer," she said.

There's no judgment, no expectations, no paybacks.

Instead: unconditional care and concern, a hug, a cup of hot coffee. Clothes to help stay warm in the depths of winter.

But Lake needs a reliable car to continue her mission of making life better for the unhoused.

Craig Stewart has known Lake a decade. They were running partners years ago and have stayed friends. Lake has some medical issues and is on disability, but her desire to help people is undaunted. It's become her life's work.

Plus, she loves coffee and drinks it black. She learned a lot about fancy drinks when she worked a year and a half as a coffee shop barista. Most of the ground coffee she brews, including 10 new bags from the Starbucks in Ellettsville, is donated to the cause.

"People are pretty generous," she said.

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Lake makes the coffee in her apartment kitchen in a giant percolator a friend gave her. She pours it into two insulated pump canisters for transport to the park.

"I tell people decaf is against my religion," she said. Sometimes, she makes a batch of brownies to take along.

When Stewart found out the Dodge was fading, he convinced Lake to allow him to raise money for a more reliable used vehicle. She was reluctant at first, worried people might think she was selfish for seeking donations to buy a car.

"This isn't really about getting a car for Heather," Stewart said this week. "It's about getting Heather the tools she needs to continue what she's done for years to help unhoused people in Bloomington."

He started a GoFundMe campaign Jan. 12 at https://bit.ly/3GrKRAp with a goal of raising $10,000. By late the next afternoon, 57 people had donated a total of $2,670 in increments ranging from $5 to $250.

Royal Toyota salesman has a car in mind

At Royal Toyota in Bloomington, there's a 2011 Toyota Camry Stewart hopes will be Lake's new coffee delivery vehicle. Salesman Dave Dove told me he's holding the car, which has just 130,000 miles on the odometer and no mechanical issues.

The sticker price is $12,900, but Dove told me he'll sell it to Lake for $10,000.

Once the GoFundMe campaign reaches its goal, Lake will buy that car and continue her mission in Seminary Park. She always stays awhile, until the coffee's gone, hearing about the lives of people most of us choose not to worry over.

Speaking of coffee, and cars, tune in next week for an update on Cars & Coffee events planned in Bloomington this spring. Really.

Have a story to tell about a car or truck? Contact reporter Laura Lane at llane@heraldt.com or 812-318-5967.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: My Favorite Ride: Seminary Park's coffee lady needs a new vehicle