A Good Old Front Porch

A good old front porch makes me think of one of those swinging chairs and peeling white paint on wood. It is a place for comfort and coffee, or leisure and laughs. Wholey, it is a space to simply be, with no more expectations than that.

Coming to college, students don’t have whatever their “front porch” might have been in the past. To transport that feeling, Joel Drenckpohl, along with his associate director and interns, innovated a local coffee shop, which is now known to Slo as Front Porch.

More than 400 students filter in and out of the shop day to day. On Wednesday nights, upwards of 300 receive a meal. The place functions with the help of over 200 volunteers, both students and other community members.

The sense of community is beyond these numbers.

Front Porch Staff

As people wobble into adulthood, connection is a means of balance. Finding people and places that you can lean on is necessary. Finding people and places outside of what you’re used to is almost even more necessary. In such an age where opinions are worn on sleeves, and in such a place where those sleeves come from all different backgrounds, a shared space can do so much.

Whether you are in the mood for solitude, a stage, or just an expresso, check out Front Porch. A place to simply be.