T-L Photo/KAILEY CARPINO Alyson Farmer, pastor of Belmont Presbyterian Church and manager of Community Coffee and Tea, hopes to support the community after opening her nonprofit coffee shop at 3391 Belmont St., Bellaire. The shop is open from 6:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturday.

BELLAIRE — A new nonprofit coffee shop has made its home in Bellaire.

Alyson Farmer, pastor of Belmont Presbyterian Church in Bellaire and manager of Community Coffee and Tea, said that all profits from the coffee shop will support the community.

The shop hosted its grand opening on Oct. 21, and Farmer said that the first few days of business since then have been a success. She said she also held a soft launch three weeks prior with restricted hours.

“We’ve been really happy, and we’ve met more people from Bellaire who we didn’t know existed. We’re both from this hometown, and we have met people that we did not know. We have seen our streets more full and more people out, and it’s been really rewarding,” Farmer said.

Farmer said that her husband, daughter and a missionary named Shaina Thornton who used to live with the Farmer family help out at the shop. She said they are currently volunteering their time to work at the coffee shop but will start paying employees once the shop can turn a profit.

“As a nonprofit organization, we will pay our bills and then we will pay ourselves something, but after that, all the profit above that goes back into the community. So this isn’t a personal business venture. This is a ministry for the Lord,” she said.

“I feel very blessed that God has blessed what we’ve made because we are not baristas. Only Shaina (Thornton) was, and Shaina taught us everything that she knows, and it has really benefited us. People like our stuff,” Farmer said.

Farmer said that she is part of the Contribute to Your Community Foundation, which started in 2019 in Bellaire. She said that, in the past, the foundation has worked with local churches to do community cleanup days. Farmer said the group has also supported the drug-free club at Bellaire schools and helped out local families in need. She plans on using profits from the coffee shop to expand these efforts.

Farmer said she wants to focus on supporting veterans and families in need along with helping people seek mental health services and supporting community development.

Farmer said she hopes to expand the coffee shop and has purchased the former BJ’s Ceramics building at 3282 Belmont St., Bellaire. She said a donor provided the funds for the purchase.

“It was one winter away from being condemned due to a bad roof, and so we’ve fixed the roof. We hope that three to five years from now, that will be our future home,” she said.

Farmer said the back wall of the building needs repairs and the interior will be renovated before the coffee shop moves in.

She said that the former ceramics studio is a much larger space, and she hopes to partner with the Ohio Valley Farmers Market to provide an indoor space for them on the second floor of the building.

“We want to be the community gathering space for Bellaire and for other believers in the valley. Hopefully, one day we can replicate it and put a little Community Coffee and Tea in every neighborhood so that people can gather, and small town America can regrow and God can bless it,” Farmer said.

She said she also hopes to leave the shop’s current building better than she found it as part of her goal to help renovate Bellaire.

Community Coffee and Tea also hosts ministry events, worship nights and Bible studies.

Farmer said the shop hosts prayer groups on Tuesday nights. She said that she encourages attendees to pray for themselves instead of just praying for other people.

“In the church, we’re often taught that you shouldn’t pray for yourself. That’s really bad theology. …We need to pray for ourselves and take care of ourselves,” she said.

She said the coffee shop has men’s Bible study on Wednesday nights as well.

Farmer said she hopes to create partnerships with other local churches and organizations to host larger charity events and giveaways.

Along with various coffee and teas, the shop also sells many other drinks such as juices, flavored sparkling water and lemonade and sweets such as cookies and cake pops.

The coffee shop is located at 3391 Belmont St., Bellaire and is open from 6:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturday.

For more information about the Community Coffee and Tea, visit its Facebook page or the Belmont Presbyterian Church Facebook group or call the coffee shop at 740-325-1507.