By Deborah Reed

WKTV Managing Editor

deborah@wktv.org

Coffee lovers might miss the HAS HEART Coffee Shop if they are not looking closely.

Located in Veterans Memorial Park and occupying the historic building that originally served as the offices for the West Michigan Tourist & Resort Association and later used as annex offices for the Grand Rapids Children’s Museum, the small veteran-owned café is doing big things.

HAS HEART is a nonprofit veteran-and-designer collaboration that represents hundreds of veterans’ stories and messages through meaningful design creations. The inviting atmosphere is created by a blend of coffee and a mission to give back to those who served our country.

In fact, it was over coffee that Michael Hyacinthe, an 8-year U.S. Navy veteran, and Tyler Way, an artist/designer, met and realized the need to connect their two worlds.

Finding purpose amidst tragedy

Originally from the Bronx in New York, Hyacinthe served as a U.S. Navy Seabee combat specialist after he graduated high school. Like many veterans, however, Hyacinthe found himself adrift after returning home from military service.

After driving a cab in New York City for two years, Hyacinthe moved to West Michigan where he married and began a family. During that time, a military serviceman Hyacinthe knew was deployed and killed in combat.

Reeling emotionally, Hyacinthe decided to honor all veterans killed in service – and chose Grand Rapids to lay the groundwork.

 “This was around the time ArtPrize was really becoming a big thing in Grand Rapids, and I saw how the city came together through art,” said Hyacinthe. “So I came here.”

Power in creativity

In 2011, Hyacinthe met a wounded U.S. Marine at a local veterans event. The Marine was paralyzed from the neck down and unable to speak due to injuries sustained in Iraq. However, he was able to share his story with Hyacinthe through an alphanumeric communication code translated on a clipboard by his full-time nurse.

Upon learning of the Marine’s passion for graphic t-shirts, Hyachinthe put plans in motion that would allow the young veteran to design his own.

“Recognizing the power in providing this wounded Marine the opportunity to design, we created a t-shirt for him called ‘Total Sacrifice,’” said Hyacinthe. “He designed it by using a very unique alphanumeric code where he had to blink. A certain number of blinks represented a certain letter, and that’s how we were able to design his t-shirt called ‘Total Sacrifice.’”

Hyacinthe and Way began designing t-shirts and donating the proceeds to various veteran organizations. By 2012, however, they had shifted their focus to center more on the veterans.

“We said, let’s pivot away from designing t-shirts ourselves and empower these veterans who have been wounded to design,” said Hyacinthe. “That’s when we decided to connect them with creative designers.”

More and more veterans began expressing their desire to create t-shirt designs. It was then that Hyacinthe and Way knew they needed to empower veterans across the U.S. to utilize the power of creativity to heal. That realization inspired them to create HAS HEART.

“Many of these veterans are disabled and can’t write,” said Hyacinthe. “These designers have the education and the experience of being professional designers, but many of them don’t know the military world because rarely are many of us connected.”

The HAS HEART Coffee Shop officially opened its doors in Veterans Memorial Park on Nov. 11, 2023 – Veterans Day.

Originally, the historical building housing HAS HEART was used solely for showcasing veterans’ art. But then…coffee.

“We decided to open up HAS HEART Coffee Shop where you can come and get a cup of coffee,” said Hyacinthe. “Veterans get a free cup of coffee. Then [patrons] can experience the designs created by the veterans.”

Approximately 30-40 veterans visit the HAS HEART Coffee Shop daily.

An outlet for healing and rebuilding

Hyacinthe dreams of HAS HEART one day becoming a retail space with all merchandise created by American veterans.

“Our goal is to one day open up a full retail store where people can come in and purchase products that were created by heroes who sacrificed,” said Hyacinthe. “Many of us come back home and we want to pursue the American dream of wealth and success, so we want to provide them that outlet.”

The military, Hyacinthe said, completely strips you of your individuality. “You are now part of something bigger than yourself, and you need to recognize that you are not the most important piece of this thing.”

However, Hyacinthe continued, when someone leaves the military, regaining that sense of individuality is vital.

“It’s what allows you to survive in the world where you need to be an individual, because no one is telling you what to do,” said Hyacinthe.

That disconnect, coupled with trauma experienced through combat, PTSD, and physical and mental injuries, makes it difficult for veterans to re-acclimate to civilian life.

Hyacinthe believes creativity is a path of healing for many veterans because it gives them the ability to be heard.

“To be heard, and to get what’s in your mind out into something visual so that you can see it, you can finally control it,” said Hyacinthe. “It’s the expression that this is real.”

As a veteran battling PTSD, Hyacinthe calls HAS HEART’s mission his therapy.

“There’s something really unique about veterans,” said Hyacinthe. “We tend to want to serve. If you give us a platform where we can continue to serve, they will find a medium to heal. And for me, this is continuing to serve through connecting veterans and giving them hope, giving them purpose through HAS HEART.”

Help empower veterans

Financial support is essential to the HAS HEART mission. Many veterans are flown into Grand Rapids to work with HAS HEART designers, and each HAS HEART veteran receives a stipend to accommodate their time.

“They’re not just all local, they’re from all over,” said Hyacinthe. “We’ve worked with hundreds of veterans.”

Raising awareness of HAS HEART’s mission, Hyacinthe went on to say, happens when people share their story online, purchase veteran-made products, make a donation, or come to the cafe and acknowledge and experience the storytelling being done.

Veterans and artists interested in participating in HAS HEART’s mission can contact Hyacinthe and Way here.