Coffee shop owner’s cup runneth over

Michael Bacaro opened a coffee bar and bake shop in downtown Simpsonville, SC for the same reason he chooses to be a foster parent: He saw a need for it.

Bacaro and his wife, Roxanne, worked as house parents at a residential care facility for children after graduating from college. Several years later, after leaving the position, he worked as a family specialist in Thornwell’s Building Families program.

Bacaro had just opened the coffee shop and was stretched thin. He knew he needed to choose one or the other and decided to pursue his business. At the same time, he decided to become a foster parent.

You can’t un-know the need

“Once you see that need as a house parent or a family teacher on a daily basis, it’s hard to un-see that or un-know it,” Bacaro said.

Bacaro has a four-year-old son and is currently fostering one child. His family has fostered four children in the last two years.  Bacaro enjoys the freedom that being a foster parent gives him and his family.

“Being a foster family goes along with our normal lives,” he said. “We can run a business and still help.”

Bacaro, in fact, named his coffee shop Exchange Co. as a nod to the mission of serving those who have given their lives in exchange for those in need. Bacaro supports children in foster care, ones involved in human trafficking, and the homeless.

An everyday ministry

“Fostering gives our family a mission,” he said. “There are ministries that you can do once a week or every so often. To us, fostering is an everyday ministry.”

Bacaro hosts pop-in events for Thornwell’s Foster Care program at The Exchange Co. The events help spread the word about how Thornwell can help meet the need for foster families in Upstate South Carolina.

Help a child today

Please visit our foster care page to learn how you can help a child in need.