This guest post is by Dani Hollis, Director of Grants & Partnerships at Aspire CoffeeWorks. Dani is applying for our Supporting Small Businesses That Hire People With Disabilities Grant Opportunity ran by my nonprofit KFM Making A Difference. You can learn more about the grant opportunity here.
I hope you can support my nonprofit like I’m trying to support our community. I also produce educational videos to celebrate neurodiversity by spotlighting individuals impacted by a diagnosis. Learn more on how you can help our cause with a small donation (just asking for $3 today, equal to your daily cup of coffee) here.
Aspire CoffeeWorks is a dynamic social enterprise between Aspire and Metropolis Coffee Company. Founded in 2009 the partnership combines the work of Aspire, a leader in providing bold and pioneering services to kids and adults with disabilities, with the craftsmanship of Metropolis Coffee Company, one of the nation’s top artisan, award-winning coffee roasters.
This creative and mutually beneficial partnership is one in which adults with disabilities on the Aspire CoffeeWorks team, work side by side with employees on the Metropolis Coffee Company team. That’s right, at Aspire CoffeeWorks, even the staff is perfectly blended!
It’s a groundbreaking, one-of-a-kind partnership and a perfect example of how adults with disabilities can be productive and successful members of the workforce. And just as exciting is the fact that 100% of Aspire CoffeeWorks’ proceeds go back to Aspire’s services and programs.
We asked Kaled, who is currently employed at Aspire CoffeeWorks, why he thinks it’s important to give people with a disability (like him) a chance to find meaningful employment”. He said, “They’re able to learn any new task to make it happen, and make a mastery of it, and make it count.”
Success Story from 2022: Four Aspire CoffeeWorks team members with disabilities took their first business trip to Milwaukee, WI from Chicago, IL to meet with a new roasting partner that will help us expand to sell coffee in Wisconsin. It was neat to see another coffee roasterie and share our story. Being a part of the bigger picture and participating in meetings around strategic initiatives is important for employees as well as the business or social enterprise.
We also asked Kaled, “what does it mean to you to have a month to celebrate the importance of hiring people with disabilities?” He said, “That means there are plenty of people you get to meet-people with autism, people with dyslexia, and you can show people what people with disabilities are really capable of doing, what they are able to learn and able to share with everyone.”
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Kerry Magro, a professional speaker and best-selling author who is also on the autism spectrum started the nonprofit KFM Making a Difference in 2011 to help students with autism receive scholarship aid to pursue a post-secondary education.
Have Kerry, one of the only professionally accredited speakers on the spectrum in the country, speak at your next event by sending him an inquiry here. If you have a referral for someone who many want him to speak please reach out as well! Kerry speaks with schools, businesses, government agencies, colleges, nonprofit organizations, parent groups and other special events on topics ranging from employment, how to succeed in college with a learning disability, internal communication, living with autism, bullying prevention, social media best practices, innovation, presentation best practices and much more!
