SPOKANE — Parker Ritzmann has earned a spot in one of the world’s most prestigious graduate fellowship programs in China.
Ritzmann was born in Ethiopia and adopted by a family in Kentucky when he was five. Hardships at home led him to a boarding school, and eventually the Hutton Settlement children’s home in Spokane Valley.
“My mindset on things was more so, why me? Why am I even here?” Ritzmann said about arriving at Hutton as a 13-year-old.
He said he struggled and was getting into trouble until a mentor at Hutton gave him a choice: walk away or stop starting to reach for opportunities.
“I was like, holy smokes, someone is giving me a choice to do something about where I want to go,” Ritzmann said.
During COVID-19, Ritzmann started a small coffee stand on Hutton’s campus. It grew into Hope Neighborhood Roasters.
“The goal was how do we create a space to uplift the youth in the children’s Home,” Ritzmann said.
Hope Neighborhood Roasters is a student-led coffee roasting program that provides paid jobs for kids at Hutton.
Isaac Hendrickson, 16, has helped run Hope since Parker left for college.
“What it was for me at least, is a business, but also a community,” Hendrickson said. “When I walk in here, it is almost like a pride, like knowing that you yourself get to run a business and have an impact on your community and also your future.”
Ritzmann wanted to build something that would last beyond his time at Hutton.
“It’s really, really cool to me to come back and see that kids are still leading and still learning about coffee, and how they could be agents of change in their communities,” Ritzmann said.
Now Ritzmann is preparing for his fellowship in China. His message is simple: you can do anything you put your mind to.
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