In an unassuming strip mall just a short drive around the 202 from Ahwatukee to Laveen, there’s a coffee shop where you are greeted with a warm and welcoming interior, with blues as rich and deep as the Pacific Ocean and whites as frothy as seafoam. The colors and décor are the same style you would find in owners Sara and Ryan Senters’ home, and they invite customers into their ohana, the Hawaiian word for family, when they step through the doors of Hanai Coffee + Cocktails.
But the Hawaiian-themed coffee shop serves not just coffee drinks and breakfast items; it also serves the community. Hanai, which means “chosen family” in Hawaiian, employs and mentors foster teens so they can develop into hardworking and passionate members of society.
“We are more than a business,” says Ryan. “We are a social enterprise focused on helping others. We opened to support foster youth, providing them with valuable work experience and essential life skills.”
Helping children in foster care is a passion for the Senters, and one they have taken deeply to heart as they have been adoptive and foster parents for more than 12 years. They also founded a non-profit organization, Friends of Ohana, which aims to help foster youth and adults with special needs with support services, including job placement at businesses like Hanai.
To date, Hanai has employed 15 foster youth since opening in May 2022. Ryan says it’s rewarding to see the impact having a job and earning their own money has on the teens. One teen had saved the money she earned working at the coffee shop and purchased her own car, which she proudly showed off to Ryan in Hanai’s parking lot.
“Kids aging out of foster care are the most at-risk and misunderstood. Every kid has a story and every story matters,” he says. “They just need a chance, and they’ll exceed expectations. When we give them guidance and support, they end up becoming some of our best employees and even teach us how to be better. They just need an adult to show up and believe in them, and they will thrive.
HanaiAZ.com | @HanaiAZ
3648 W Southern Ave. Unit 148
Phoenix, Ariz. 85041