Two years ago, Natalie Serna opened Barista Cats Café with a mission much larger than just serving coffee. With her daughter attending the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, she saw an opportunity to create a warm and welcoming space for students and community members to relax, while also helping rescue and stray cats find loving homes.
“We have grown so much. Initially, we were just working with one shelter, which was HSSW in Janesville. We have evolved to the point we now have our own non profit rescue,” Serna shared. “We partner with three other rescues, to save even more cats’ lives.”
The café offers even more than a cozy environment to sip coffee and play with adorable cats, it also helps to tackle the city’s feral cat population by engaging in trap-neuter-release work. Every cat available comes spayed, neutered, fully vaccinated, microchipped, dewormed and socialized.
“It takes out the guesswork that you’d walk into a shelter and pull a really scared kitty out of a cage. These guys are cage free,” Serna said. “Every kitty that comes in here is a unique individual, just like a human.”
Sprawled out on the café counter was Vegas, a former feral cat found a year ago pregnant and scavenging through dumpsters for her next meal. After months of fostering, she is thriving at the cafe waiting for her forever home.
The first three-kitten adoption took place during the anniversary event, bringing Serna to tears.
“I actually adopted one from here last week. Her name is Tara, and God, I fell in love with her,” said Adoption Coordinator Carina Serna.
Since their opening two years ago, the cafe has assisted in over 200 cat adoptions.
“We’ve had over 200 cats come through here and every single cat is different,” Carina Serna said. “I love making connections with the cats and just being able to see how far they’ve come. It really makes me emotional.”
In addition to expanding their adoption efforts, Barista Cats Café is strengthening their connection with the community and university. Last year, they won the Whitewater Wind Up, a local business competition that awards innovation and entrepreneurship in the community, allowing them to double their space in the back so they can give onsite treatment for the cats. They are currently working on partnering with the university to launch “Purr and Pages,” a program aimed at providing students a comforting space to study and spend time with cats for their mental health.
“It’s really awesome that we’re trying to partner with the school so they can have therapy, or a safe space to come in and hang out with cats if they are far away from home and miss theirs,” Carina Serna added.
As Barista Cats Café celebrates its two-year anniversary, it stands as a testament to the power of compassion and connection within our community. Whether through adoption, rescue efforts, or providing a welcoming environment for the community and cats alike, the café has made an undeniable impact – one cat at a time.
