This guest post is by Brooke Shellhorn, Operations and Development Coordinator at Roots Colorado dba Dirt Coffee. Brooke 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.
Dirt’s mission is to bring quality crafted coffee while training, employing, and empowering neurodivergent individuals. The concept for Roots Colorado dba Dirt Coffee Bar originated when 3 sets of parents in a support group for their children with autism wondered what the future would hold for them in terms of interdependence and employment. Along with two Applied Behavioral Analysis therapists, they formed Dirt with the motivation to create an intentional space for youth and adults with autism, intellectual and/or developmental differences to find employment. Since its inception,
Dirt has grown from an idea to a coffee truck/campaign on the road to a brick-and-mortar shop with plans to expand. We have trained and employed 140 neurodivergent individuals to date and provided over $50,000 in transportation and technical assistance scholarships between our mobile coffee truck and our brick-and-mortar shop. Neurodivergent individuals have significant barriers to employment due to historical miseducation and harmful stereotypes from stigma, biases, and inequitable hiring practices. These barriers in the U.S. attribute to 81% of adults with autism, intellectual and/or developmental differences being un- and underrepresented in the workforce and have little to no opportunity for integrated work experience. Employment is an integral part of our economic and social wellness, which has been obstructed by society historically viewing disability through the Medical Model, which focuses on the impairment of a disabled individual and blames the disability for the individual not having access to things in their environment. After many years of using this model, people have begun to shift to the Social Model of Disability, which acknowledges that the current society was created for non-disabled people and is full of barriers for the disabled community.
At Dirt, we are moving past this model and looking toward the Disability Justice Model, which recognizes and further learns to understand the challenges that the disabled and neurodivergent population face within other marginalized identities, such as race, gender, and sexual orientation. Neurodivergent individuals with intersecting identities are at high risk of missing out on a diagnosis; only 25% of the BIPOC community is diagnosed. Further, identifying as “Neuroqueer” can lead to bullying and sexual harassment in the workplace. Through our primary programming, Dirt supports medically verified neurodivergent individuals with little to no successful work experience. We do this through our Inclusive Internship Employment Program, which cultivates skills in neurodivergent youth and adults to set them up for success by utilizing an individualized and strength-based approach.
Dirt internships are 3 months and serve ~40 interns a year across two locations in the Denver-Metro Colorado area. Each intern is paid a competitive hourly wage and works one-on-one with an experienced job coach. Upon completion, interns are provided with an in-depth report of their progress and work recommendations. Approximately 50% of our interns are hired in the community by other employers upon completion of the internship program, with the remaining interns choosing to continue their education or continue their workforce development through other programs. Recently, Dirt had an intern move to Colorado from California, where he had been working in a library in his hometown. He shared that while he was working in the library, he was working away from others and felt isolated, which affected his overall view of himself and his abilities. Upon moving to Colorado, he applied and was accepted into Dirt’s internship program. During his time at Dirt, he grew immensely in self-confidence, took initiative in learning, and thrived in customer service skills. By his third month at Dirt, he was working independently as a cashier and could handle busy rushes with no problem. He came into Dirt every day with a big smile and enthusiasm for his work. He has always wanted to work in customer service in order to have the opportunity to make people smile every day! After completion of his internship at Dirt, he secured a job at a grocery store with hopes to continue growing his skills and becoming the best version of himself. Simultaneously, Dirt works systematically to change the lives of neurodivergent youth and young adults by working directly with our local employers in the community to dismantle barriers neurodivergent individuals face entering the workforce in Metro Denver.
This work is completed through our Inclusive Workforce Employer Program, which addresses disability hiring practices, procedures, and language in the workforce to motivate employers to hire, support, and promote the neurodivergent community in the workplace. Dirt takes our programming a step further with our Dirt on the Road program, which is an effort to advocate for disability employment in our community. In this program, Dirt works to engage the greater community to increase awareness about the low employment rate for people with autism, intellectual and/or developmental differences and challenge the public to advocate for inclusion and equality by organizing and attending community events in underserved neighborhoods. This is supported further by National Disability Employment Awareness Month in October, which is a prime time for our truck to attend fall events and promote our mission even further. Though our internship program only serves ~40 interns per year, we pride ourselves on making a lasting impact that starts at our internship program and transfers to more inclusive hiring practices in the workforces where our interns are hired. Further, Dirt is in an expansion phase, with October 2021 being a month for positive change. Dirt is in the process of signing a lease for a second location in east Denver, which will make our services more accessible for neurodivergent individuals who rely on public transportation. Additionally, Dirt is hiring a Lead Job Coach who will assist our Inclusive Employment Manager in delivering high-quality programming to more interns in 2022. Our second location combined with increased staff capacity, will effectively increase our impact in 2022.
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.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtgGzKRHT-Y
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!
