Our Story
From 2010, With Love
2010–2011
Founded in Orlando
Downtown CREDO was founded in the spring of 2010, opening the doors to its first coffee shop in College Park in early 2011.
College Park
Where It All Started
We organized trash clean-ups, get-fit weeks, permaculture workshops, songwriters stages, poetry readings, float building competitions, and parades.
Health Village
AdventHealth Campus
We ran social enterprise pitch competitions and provided hospital staff free coffee during the pandemic.
Downtown
The Exchange
We hosted entrepreneur and tech industry meetups for Orlando's growing innovation community.
North Quarter
A Home for Many
Our North Quarter space passed through a grocery and ice cream shoppe, a BBQ joint, a taco stand, and a bookstore before we opened our own vegan kitchen in 2023, hosting Diverse Word, the Cinnabar Film Series, local art exhibits, and book releases, while partnering with REAL, the Florida Palestine Network, Central Florida Mutual Aid, and the Orlando DSA.
2023–2024
People's Free Kitchen
Alongside REAL, we supported the People's Free Kitchen, distributing 100-150 fresh, hot meals weekly to people experiencing homelessness in Parramore, serving over 4,700 meals by the time we closed our shop.
2024–Today
A New Chapter
After moving away from retail locations in late 2024, CREDO coffee is available online and now focuses on roasting for select wholesale partners.
The CREDO
Life is worth living.
We refuse to merely exist.
We pursue a life of meaning and purpose, fulfillment and joy.
The world is not yet as it ought to be.
Neither is our city. Neither are we.
Yet, we reject apathy and despair.
We engage the world, our city, and each other to make an impact for good.
We are not alone.
We press through narcissism, isolation, and self-sufficiency, striving to live in authentic community.
Conduit
A co-working space where a community of companies and individuals is committed to the notion that our work gets better when we come alongside people who are different from us.
Visit site →Rally
Spun off into its own non-profit in partnership with the Central Florida Foundation and Rollins College, with the mission of elevating Orlando into a regional hub for new social enterprises.
Visit site →Orlando Together
Grew out of CREDO's original neighborhood organizing efforts. Now an independent non-profit with the mission of fortifying cities and organizations by undermining racial divisions.
Friends, Old and New
As early as 2011 our challenging task of network cultivation was organized into three divisions: Coffee, Rally, and Conduit. Each of these divisions created opportunities for folks to not only be introduced to a life animated by the CREDO, but to step into the growing web of people who've committed to it.
Now, though our days of hosting organizations and events at our cafes are gone, we still partner with local organizations to help them push their work forward in our mutually beneficial Impact Makers program that supports coffee producers and our community partners simultaneously. Our coffees support initiatives that provide services for our local LGBTQ+ community, healthcare funds for individuals in need, education initiatives, and mutual aid programs that provide people experiencing homelessness with free food, clothing, harm reduction and hygiene materials. Together, we're taking what steps we can to build the future we want to live in, today.