GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Tuesday was the grand opening of Gaslight Be Cafe in Grand Rapids. However, this is not just any cafe — all of their "be-ristas" have intellectual disabilities.
Brody Cole has a coffee shop named after him — Brody's Be Cafe. He tells me, “I love the cafe; I love seeing people; I love greeting people too. It’s really awesome.”
Brody's Be Cafe is the first in the chain of coffee shops that strictly hires intellectually disabled "be-ristas."
Brody's mom, Jennifer Cole, is the founder. Jennifer's hope was that as Brody gets older, he would find meaningful employment — and he has found it in Brody's Be Cafe.
“I think one of my biggest fears was, What is this child going to do when he’s older?" Jenifer said.
Richie Creswell, one of the be-ristas, is a coffee connoisseur. “I use the machine," Richie tells me, proudly. "I put the coffee in the machine and it comes out.”
Executive Director of Gaslight Be Cafe Rachel Stadt tells me that just as they are coaching their be-ristas, "We’re learning so much from them; it’s been amazing.”
Since I last spoke with Gaslight Be Cafe, these be-ristas have gone through seven days of training.
“This place has just provided so much opportunity for so many people, and I want everybody to see it," Rachel remarked.
Putting on their aprons for the first time, they already feel like family.
Jennifer said, “I wanted to bring people together to realize that they aren’t really as different as they might look or seem — and I thought a coffee shop was a great way to do that.”
Gaslight Be Cafe will now be open Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Their third annual Be Benefit Auction is Sept. 11 from 6 to 9 p.m.
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