Veteran Roasters grew from a conviction held by founder Mark J. Doyle: we should stand by our veterans the same way they stood for us.

After spending a year in Afghanistan as a civilian member of an anti-corruption task force, Mark returned to Chicago with a sharper understanding of the challenges many veterans face after service.

Too many were navigating housing instability, unemployment, and the difficult work of translating military experience into civilian opportunity.

He first acted on that belief through Rags of Honor, a nonprofit focused on employing homeless and at-risk veterans. When that operation shared space with a local coffee roaster, another possibility came into view.

Coffee was more than a product people bought once. It was part of a daily routine—one that could create recurring work, teach transferable skills, and connect customers
to the mission again and again.

The idea was straightforward:
Why not start roasting coffee?

Veteran Roasters was built from that question.

Mission only matters if the coffee earns a place in your cup.

We source high-quality coffee from sustainable, fair-trade sources and roast it in Chicago. Our lineup runs from the strong, steady light roast of Sentinel to the bold, dark-chocolate depth of Rally Point, with whole bean and ground options for different homes, workplaces, and brew methods.

Veterans handle the work from roast to shipment. They learn the equipment, monitor quality, package orders, manage logistics, serve customers, and help keep the operation moving. The result is coffee made with attention and a workplace designed to create real responsibility—not ceremonial roles.

Veteran Roasters is the only craft coffee roaster built around a commitment to hire homeless and at-risk veterans.

We create living-wage employment in a workplace centered on stability, dignity, and belonging. A job is not the entire answer to housing insecurity or the challenges that can follow military service, but the right job can be a powerful foundation. It can restore routine, create connection, build confidence, and make room for a person to plan forward.

That work is intentionally people-first. Team members are trusted with meaningful responsibilities and supported as they grow into new roles. The goal is not simply to fill shifts. It is to help veterans build skills and momentum they can carry into whatever comes next—inside Veteran Roasters, into leadership, or into opportunities of their own.