Futures Café: A little coffee shop making a big difference (4 photos)
Posted Sep 20, 2018 02:44:00 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Tucked away on a busy Lower Sackville road between a stair installer and a strip of trees, a little coffee shop quietly hums away each morning, its small staff making drinks and food for their loyal customers.
Futures Café on Glendale Avenue might look like a normal diner, complete with a checkered floor, a decently-sized coffee bar and plenty of seating, but the idea behind it sets it apart from other food and drink joints.
“We provide work training, life skill training, and employment opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities,” said Krista Parsons, business development coordinator with Building Futures Employment Society.
“It’s all about inclusion.”
As a social enterprise through the employment society, Futures Café works to help their staff achieve their goals and gain experience in the workforce.
The Building Futures Employment Society, which began over 40 years ago, has other social enterprises as well: they also run a print and engraving shop, an assembly and packaging company, and, for their more artistic staff, a business mainly selling custom bird and yard art.
All revenue gained through these ventures is put back into the society’s programming for adults with intellectual disabilities, Parsons said.
“(The businesses) bring awareness and educate people on what they actually are doing for the lives of this population,” she said.
“When you’re shopping here … you’re helping people be included, you’re helping people achieve their personal goals.”
The café, which was started nearly 30 years ago, employs around six people, but Parsons said she believes the business will continue growing as more people become aware of what they’re doing.
The coffee shop also offers catering services.
This business and the society’s other businesses fill a much-needed gap when it comes to workplace inclusion and empowering people with disabilities, said Parsons.
“As a small child, I thought, ‘What am I going to do when I grow up?’ And I had so many options available to me,” she said.
“But sometimes for people with disabilities, after high school, there’s not a lot of options open to them. So we give them options.”
Michele Brushett began working with the society 22 years ago, and while she mainly works at the café, she’s spent some time working at the assembly plant as well.
At the beginning, she said she felt a little nervous working at her first job, but she said she’s since found a home at the café.
“The staff is nice and supportive,” she said. “If we’re having a bad day, we can talk to any one of them.”
Brushett, who has since taken on a leadership role at the small coffee shop, said her favorite part of the job is baking, helping out other staff and interacting with customers.
The patrons are supportive, she said, with many commenting on the quality of the food and how well the team members work together.
Brushett added, “I like counting the tip money too.”
