Refuge Coffee expands its welcome to the world
Refuge Coffee Co. prides itself on providing more than a good-tasting cup of coffee in a friendly environment.
Every cup sold also helps the Clarkston-based nonprofit fulfill its mission to provide competitive-wage jobs, job training, and mentoring to resettled refugees and other new immigrants.
After more than a decade in business, Refuge is now offering its popular Welcome Blend for online purchases.
Director of development Hung Truong said online sales will allow the organization to expand its brand outside of metro Atlanta, where it operates three storefront coffee shops and a catering barista service.
“We have people from our community who have moved outside of Clarkston but wanted to be able to share Refuge coffee with their friends and neighbors,” Truong said.
Through online sales, “we’ll be able to help more refugees and their families,” he added.
Bags of whole bean or ground coffee, as well as coffee subscriptions, can be purchased through the company’s website.
Founder Kitti Murray started Refuge in 2015 by selling coffee from a truck. It was a way for her and her husband, Bill Murray (no relation to the actor), to get to know their international neighbors who had resettled in Clarkston.
Clarkston is known as “the most diverse square mile in America” by city leaders who celebrate its multicultural identity. For 40 years, the city has been a federal resettlement area for those fleeing war or persecution.
The Murrays discovered that many of these newcomers had trouble finding work, so they used the coffee business to provide jobs and training as baristas.
More than 10 years in, the nonprofit continues to exclusively hire refugees or new immigrants as baristas.
In addition to job training, employees are offered English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) classes and continuing education through Georgia Perimeter Technical College.
“It’s not just about giving them jobs, but we walk with them,” Truong said, “which in the life of a refugee and in their assimilation, there’s constant crisis and chaos.”
Truong knows that journey; his parents were Vietnamese refugees in the 1970s. His father started a church on the south side of Atlanta and helped other refugee families who were resettling in the metro area.
Truong said that, throughout his childhood, his family shared their home with other refugee families, and they often pulled mattresses out of the garage for families to sleep on the floor.
With that background, Truong said he shares the Refuge vision of providing a “worldwide welcome” to newcomers from different nationalities and helping them to assimilate.
The nonprofit hosts fundraisers to support its mission and partners with other refugee organizations in Clarkston.
Last year, Refuge Coffee supported refugee-owned businesses at markets and pop-up events, participated in a job fair for new immigrants and helped to supply free children’s books representing other cultures.
At the nonprofit’s annual Refuge 5K in Clarkston, almost $10,000 in free registration fees were donated to immigrants. Refugee and health organizations provided education and support during the event.
The Clarkston coffee shop remains a safe space for immigrants to spend time.
It was named one of “The 20 Friendliest Places in The South” by Southern Living magazine in its September 2025 edition.
“Southern hospitality is amazing,” said Truong, “but when you add Southern hospitality to a ‘worldwide welcome’ for all these different ethnicities, countries, and backgrounds, it’s really beautiful to see.”
