
Over the years, hundreds of youth and young adults experiencing homelessness and other hardships have come through the doors of Elpis Enterprises.
Each intern brings a unique story about what they’ve gone through to get to Elpis, so in 2025, Elpis will feature at least one intern through our news service each month. Our first intern feature will be on Tenaja Holmes.
Holmes has worked in Elpis’s screen printing enterprise over the last few months. She came from one of Elpis’s partners in North Minneapolis, EMERGE. Holmes’s work history before joining Elpis was mainly in fast food and she was looking for an opportunity to do more tangible and creative work making t-shirts.
“Before I came here I was already into graphic design, drawing, and creating stuff,” said Holmes. “And seeing projects be finished I felt like that was something to keep going, keep wanting to work, and actually be proud of my work. Because it feels good to have that.”
Holmes never had the same creative experience putting together fast food meals as she has been able to have with Elpis. Making quick meals with regiment instructions doesn’t provide the same fulfillment as creating graphic designs and printing them on shirts has for her.
“I think it’s just like, well, I like the creative part of it but it’s mostly just being able to complete stuff but it’s rewarding,” said Holmes.
Before working at Elpis, Holmes only knew about screen printing through social media. Under the mentorship of Elpis’s Dustin McChesney, who manages and operates the screen-printing program, Holmes has gained the experience to take her skills from screen printing into the workforce.
“Tenaja’s curiosity for everything, and not for just what we do here, made her a joy to teach,” said McChesney. “[She’s] an insanely fast learner, she got her hands on almost every aspect of what we do in the print shop and wasn’t shy to get inky! It’s easy for me to see her as a success in almost any role she would want for herself.”
“I love seeing the process, the creative process from the beginning to the end even when Dustin has the little image logos on his screen and they’re putting a file into the system and trying to get everything like that. It made me feel good to know that I could help somebody get their brand and their business out there, that was really nice,” Holmes added.
Holmes will still be at Elpis Enterprises as she begins to study IT at St. Paul College. She hopes her studies will also provide more avenues for her to explore her creative side, which she has cherished during her time at Elpis.
“Something else I really appreciated about them [Elpis] with me going to school is they also made my own kind of lane for me to continue to work here while also exploring the other sides of this business. I think this has helped me from the beginning, like I was saying, I really do enjoy having my creative side too. But it helps me grow to want to do more than just create stuff, but like an engineer, build stuff too.”
Elpis has provided Holmes with the creative outlet she’s always wanted for herself when it comes to work. Now as she pursues new opportunities for education and work, Holmes is confident she will be able to find them once her time with Elpis concludes.