As one might assume, parents of children with disabilities are presented with a slew of challenges from the day their child is born. However, one of the greatest challenges comes later in life when their child is grown and is looking for employment.
Almost 70 percent of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities do not have jobs, according to CNN.
That’s why Amy Wright of Wilmington, NC decided she would dedicate her life to finding employment for those with special needs. Wright was inspired to this calling by her two children, Beau and Bitty, who both have Down syndrome.
“When Beau was born, we were thrust into the world of special needs,” Wright told CNN. “So, we’ve been trying to advocate in different ways since then. And that intensified after (we had) Bitty.”
Wright started the nonprofit Able to Work USA to help people with special needs finds employment.
Though she had hundreds of people who were looking for work, she found it difficult to find employers who would even give them an interview.
“It’s so hard to get people to change their perceptions,” she said. “It felt like we were swimming upstream, People are scared of what they don’t know, so that’s why we’ve decided to live out loud and show people what our lives are like.”
Wright found that people with special needs were capable of doing whatever they were asked to do and decided that she would be their employer.
In 2016, she opened Bitty & Beau’s Coffee, a coffee shop which now employees more than 40 people with disabilities like autism, cerebral palsy and Down syndrome, as well as two managers who have degrees in special education.
“It hit me like a lightning bolt: a coffee shop!” Wright explained to CNN. “I realized it would be the perfect environment to bring people together. Seeing the staff taking orders, serving coffee — they’d realize how capable they are.”
All proceeds from the coffee shop go to her nonprofit. To Wright, her coffee shop is much more than an employer.
“Creating this has given people a way to interact with people with disabilites that (they) never had before,” she explains. “This is a safe place where people can test the waters and realize how much more alike we are than different. And that’s what it’s all about.”
In addition to employment, the coffee shop’s employees gain a sense of accomplishment, pride, and connection to their community. It allows them to truly shine, according to Wright.
“I used to be very shy and introverted and I didn’t want to chat with people much,” said Bitty & Beau’s employee Matt. “Bitty & Beau’s has helped me a lot with my confidence and it’s helped me become more sociable. Ms. Amy… she’s changing the world.”
Wright says that her employees are like “celebrities” now with patrons asking to speak with Matt or dance with Trevor.
But anyone who has been to Bitty & Beau’s knows their motto, “It’s more than a cup of coffee,” rings true. The beauty and energy that each of the employees bring to the coffee shop is a true joy for patrons to experience.
“I always say I leave with my heart filled,” one patron told CNN. “It’s overflowing every time.”
Wright says she hopes to open a second location in Charleston, South Carolina.
“By opening another shop in a real high-tourist area, people (will) think they’re going to get a cup of coffee, and they’re going to get so much more,” she said. “It’s taking our mission to another level, and we feel like that’s when we’re really going to start changing hearts and minds.”
To learn more about Bitty & Beau’s Coffee and how you can help their efforts visit bittyandbeauscoffee.com.
SHARE this with your friends and family.
