Our world and society, unfortunately, is too hard and often cruel to people that are born with some kind of physical/ or developmental disability.

However, nowadays, you can see that more and more establishments and institutions are opening their doors and welcoming these vulnerable groups in their premises.

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For people with Down syndrome, autism, and cerebral palsy going to school, graduating, and then finding a job is nearly always a challenge.

Therefore, upon learning that “over 80% of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities do not have jobs”, a couple from Wilmington decided to help and change these statistics.

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Amy Wright and her husband are proud parents of two children born with Down Syndrome, Beau, and Bitty, and they also happen to be the owners of a chain of coffee shops called Bitty & Beau’s Coffee.

Now what it’s amazing and rather unique with these particular coffee shops is that all of their employees are people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

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“It hit me like a lightning bolt: a coffee shop!” Amy explained. “I realized it would be the perfect environment for bringing people together. Seeing the staff taking orders, serving coffee — they’d realize how capable they are.”

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So, this was the basic idea that motivated the couple to open their first branch back in January 2016 in Wilmington, North Carolina. The shop became immediately a hit and people started regularly flocking in to enjoy delicious mochas and lattes. Six months later, it was obvious by the traffic in the coffee shop that they needed a bigger space.

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That first shop started with 19 employees and soon grew to employ 40, there are also two managers who hold degrees in special education. It’s not surprising that the coffee shop has the reputation of “The Happiest Place in Wilmington”!

In the next four years, the couple was able to open two more coffee shops even bigger than the original, one in Charleston, South Carolina, and one in Savannah, Georgia.

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“Creating this has given people a way to interact with people with disabilities that (they) never had before. 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.”, Amy said.

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Their unique business idea and the help that they offered to these special social groups helped them win the 2017 CNN Hero of the Year award, which included $100,000 that they invested toward their cause.

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These coffee shops are not only a great business but their true value lies in the fact that they have shown to the rest of the world that people with intellectual and developmental disabilities are people like the rest of us, capable of working and running a successful establishment!

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Let’s close the article on Amy’s own words, “Our hope is that other businesses will see our success and realize the importance and benefit of hiring people with intellectual disabilities. When other businesses begin to hire people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, this will truly affect the unemployment epidemic”.

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Source: My Positive Outlooks, Bitty, and Beaus Coffee