“I want the Garage to become an icon of Issaquah,” junior Olivia Van Ry said.
The Garage is a relaxing cafe specifically made for teenagers. It is a safe space for anyone to come and do homework, play games, eat free snacks, drink free coffee and other warm beverages, as well as to meet new people. The Garage also hosts events–they had a Halloween party and are planning a holiday party for right before the Issaquah School District winter break.
“I wanted to get involved in something that would help the community, and the Garage looked like a really fun process,” junior Nikalya Copenhaver said.

Van Ry, Copenhaver, and senior Dylan Kostadinov have taken up leadership positions in the Teens 4 Teens steering committee. Along with committee members, there are also college students and adults from the community that work at the Garage to provide for the teenagers that come in.
“Right now there are a lot of Gibson Ek and Issaquah High School students that go there, but I want Liberty and Skyline to get involved,” Van Ry said. “It’s an amazing project that will help the high schools come together as a community.”
The mission of the Garage is to provide teenagers a place to hang out after school where they feel safe and can access programs they wouldn’t otherwise have access to like free counseling from a youth and family therapist, Kathy Opie. They also have a stage and a conference room to rent for free. This is all made possible by donors from the community.
“I hope the Garage will grow bigger than just Issaquah, spreading from Washington to maybe the whole country. The Garage is so important for teenagers to have and I’m so proud of what it’s become,” Kostadinov said.