Get To Know Neighbors Through Long Valley’s ‘Humans Of TCP’

LONG VALLEY, NJ — Getting to know the community has been a focus of The Coffee Potter, a business started because of the community.

When Anna Dower - a photographer and videographer in Atlanta who runs The Coffee Potters’ social media for her parents and owners Dave and Geralyn Hickey - had the chance to take trips to Kenya with her parents, she said they all found the people of Kenya to have a true community spirit.

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Dower had gotten to know the country and its people as she worked for a humanitarian group there, saying she and her family were reminded as they went back for visits, how much the community focused and depended on their neighbors.

She told Patch, neighbors in Kenya grow crops and share them with each other, with community members all helping to chip in, when someone gets married.

“Do we really know our neighbors?” Dower said she and her parents would ask themselves on their return trips, with it reiterating the importance of getting better acquainted with people.

This was how the “Humans of TCP” was born, what Dower calls a “riff off of the “Humans of New York,” where one story at a time is shared about intriguing people who frequently walk through The Coffee Potters' doors.

Now a freelance photographer who shoots weddings and other types of events and portraits, the Humans of TCP came about with the desire to get to know people who come to The Coffee Potter, from Long Valley and beyond.

Taking the opportunity to get to know the five people that she’s interviewed and photographed so far for The Coffee Potter’s social media, Dower asks the people who she’s met to share about their lives.

One of the most recent Coffee Potter interviewees was “Joshua," Dower asking questions about what he wanted people to know about him.

He shared some experiences that changed his life, teaching him how blessed he was with a family support system, which he said also led him to renew his Christian faith.

He told Dower he “began to realize my life isn’t just like a series of accidents or coincidences or good or bad things happening, things felt less accidental and more intentional.”

Their first interviewee “Carey” shared her insights into becoming a mother.

“It’s not about me raising my child,” she told Dower, “it’s about putting a grown, kind, full person into the universe and helping them to be true.”

Dower described the People of TCP posts as a way to “connect with the community on a deeper level,” with people realizing that they may not feel alone and someone else has been through what they have, after they've read the posts.

The Coffee Potter has gotten involved in the community, with Long Valley tote bags something Dower helped to spearhead with her parents, she said, the Hickeys deciding to use the proceeds to give back to different community organizations.

Washington Township’s Police Department plans to head to The Coffee Potter, which is hosting “Coffee With A Cop” from 8 to 10 a.m. on Nov. 22.

“We’re so grateful to the community and town,” Dower said, remarking how engaged they are on social media, like they are in person, commenting on posts.

“We never expected this following, we are truly grateful for the connection,” Dower said, with The Coffee Potter celebrating its fifth anniversary in March. “It’s more of a gift to us than the community.”

Know someone who should be featured in an upcoming People of TCP post? Contact The Coffee Potter by direct message at:

The Coffee Potter Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/TheCoffeePotter
The Coffee Potter Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/thecoffeepotter/

Questions or comments about this story? Have a news tip? Contact me at: jennifer.miller@patch.com.