A Special Blend

Scotty and Hannah spotlight a coffee shop that specialzes in providing employment to individuals with intellectual disabilities.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Welcome to Carolina Cares. It's ScottyBlaisdell along with Hannah Tyler. Today's an
interesting addition I'm excited for today.Not often do we actually talk to a
business, but I gotta tell you, I'm very excited about this one.
And we always feature people and organizationsthat are making the Triad a great place
to call home. And this isone of the reasons I think so so

(00:23):
spoiler alert, It's a coffee shop, but it's like an amplified coffee shop,
Like you're not only drinking good coffee, you're contributing to a great organization.
Well, let's get started, ddown goa team close enough, all
right, Katie be a genie andalso Emily Merritt here and we'll start with
d D. Let's talk about aspecial blend. What makes this coffee shop

(00:48):
special? Oh, that's an easyone to answer. What makes it special
is our people. Our crew arefolks with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and
they are are just the most delightfulpeople you will meet. So they are
excited to meet you when you comein and to serve you and engage with
you. And it's just a warmand friendly place because of our crew.

(01:12):
How did this come to be?Whose idea was it to make this coffee
shop so special? Well, thatwas my crazy idea, I think.
I walked into a similar coffee shopin Wilmington, North Carolina, back in
twenty sixteen, and I just sawpeople with intellectual developmental disabilities, autism,

(01:34):
down syndrome, similar things like that. And I had been working with a
group of folks, high school folksin a Christian ministry with who had idd
and I would watch as they graduatedfrom high school and they had very very
little to do with their days.They would sit home and watch TV or

(01:56):
play video games, and I wasjust really that that is not the way
that it's not a good quality oflife for anyone. Everybody needs a place
to belong and give back and feelneeded and feel important and to grow their
skills. And so that's kind ofwhere I was in my life in twenty

(02:17):
sixteen when I walked into this coffeeshop in Wilmington and saw someone with autism,
took my order, some with Downsyndrome, showed me my array of
choices, and another woman who wasdifferently abled made our drinks, and they
you could just see the joy ontheir faces, the pride in their faces.

(02:40):
They did a great job. Butthe other thing that just really struck
me in that little, tiny coffeeshop was there was just this lovely interaction
between the crew and the customers.It was there was laughter, there was
fun, there was this getting toknow one another. There's kind of a
breaking down of walls between people withand without disabilities and just seeing the value

(03:06):
in all people. I think sometimeswe can be a bit intimidated with what
we don't know, so breaking downthat wall is just a huge part of
just understanding we can we're in thistogether. We're all just people live in
life. We are all just peoplelive in life. Yes, i am
a parent myself of a young manwith intellectual and developmental disabilities, and I've

(03:28):
always said that people aren't unkind tomy son, at least that I have
seen. They're just awkward around him, and it's because they just really haven't
been around a lot of people whomight look or sound or behave a little
bit differently than the norm. Butonce you get to know people, you
will fall in love with this groupof people, They're just delightful And we

(03:51):
just kind of wanted to give Greensboroand now high point the opportunity to interact
with folks that they don't often getto interest and we'll make sure we direct
people to where the coffee shop is. Again, it's called a special blend,
and so we're hearing what's great aboutthis coffee shop. But what's super
great is we have Emily with ustoday. Who Emily, you're a cashier?
Correct? Yes? And what isyour favorite part about working out a

(04:13):
special blend? Oh? What's myfavorite part about working out a special blend?
I love getting to meet the peoplethat come in. We've really created
like a beating heart in the communityand I just think that special. You
know, it's a for a lotof me and my friends at the coffee

(04:33):
shop. It's the place where wemake our friends. It's the place that
we make our best friends. It'sa place where we can get together and
spend time with each other. AndEmily, how did you find these ladies
in a special blend ad genda workingthere? I was at the end of
my senior year and I was ina school program that would teach us how

(04:57):
to get jobs, so would walkus through the inner you process. We
do volunteer work and hopefully at theend of the year, we would find
a job. And because of mydisability, I had a lot of physical
challenges, so it was very hardfor me to get hired. And I

(05:19):
was like, I wish there wassomebody that was looking for people with disabilities
specifically to hire, because then you'veaddressed that elephant in the room. And
little did I know that d Da year prior had had the same idea.

(05:40):
And my teacher got an email fromthe people had a special bund saying
that they were looking for people tointerview, and she was like, why
don't you try that? So Igot my resume together in like four days
and when and did the interview andmet some of the people that that I

(06:03):
would become best friends with, becausein high school I was really lonely,
you know, I would sit bymyself at lunch. I really wasn't invited
to go hang out with people,which is really hard. But so a
special blend gave me a place tobelong and it gave me people, and

(06:25):
it gave me an outlet to advocatefrom my friends and people that I'll never
meet who have disabilities. Emily,do you feel like it's helped your confidence?
Yes? Yeah, definitely, definitely. Now can I ask what is
your disability? I have cerebral policy. Okay, does it make it more

(06:46):
challenging to do the things you haveto do your dexterity and being able to
work as a cashier. Yes,but you know, people like Dede and
the managers that we work with,they've you know, they've helped us,
you know, overcome those challenges.They're like, we'll help you, you
can do this, We'll help you. And then you, i'm sure,

(07:09):
are a coach for some of theseother folks that come in and work there
as well. Yes, it seemslike it right. It's been really fun
because for the past few weeks,me and all the other employees, all
the other crew have been training thehigh Point crew. So it's cool to
see it come full circle again towhere we were getting trained for the first

(07:34):
store, and now we're opening anotherstore and we're the ones doing the training.
Now. I don't want you toleave because I want to talk more
to you, but I also wantto bring Katie into things as well.
She's the development coordinator. So Katie, let me ask you this. If
someone is interested in and maybe comingon board, how do we approach doing

(07:57):
that. Yeah, so I alwaystell people I have I think the easiest
job at a Special Blend because ofEmily's They tell the story. They really
sell what we do, and mypart is just to communicate how people can
get in on it. Currently,we are working on preparing for our annual

(08:18):
fundraising gala, which is going tobe on Saturday, November fourth, twenty
twenty three, and we are lookingto procure corporate sponsors for that gala as
well as silent auction donations and arenow selling tickets individual tickets for people to

(08:39):
attend. And if people want toattend, where can they get those tickets?
Yeah? So you can find outmore information about the organization and download
our sponsorship packet at our website,which is ww dot a Special Blend dot
org. You can also just makea one time donation or become a monthly
donor by same website dash donate.I love what you guys are doing,

(09:05):
and again we're talking to a SpecialBlend. It's community and a cup.
That's the slogan. Yeah DD ishere, Katie and Emily and I have
to go back to d D quicklyas well. I wanted to ask,
I mean, it seems like nowthat it exists, this is a great
idea. Why are more people notdoing it? Why are more businesses not

(09:26):
doing what you're doing right now?I mean, I know you can't speak
for them, but what's your theory? That's a great question. I think
they just don't know. It's justlack of knowledge of And that was one
of our missions statements from the beginning, was for other businesses to see,

(09:48):
to come in and see how greatEmily and Cameron and Carly and all the
other ones are doing and how capablethey are. I think people make assumptions
that folks with disabilities are, youknow, not as capable as they can
be. It does take extra training, but if you give them the training,

(10:09):
the support, and any accommodations theymight need, they make incredible employees
because they're so thrilled to have ajob. They're so thrilled to be seen
and known and valued that they arevery, very loyal employees. Right.
So we're talking how great you guysare, But where are you located if
someone wants to come in and graba cop Oh absolutely, we are at

(10:33):
thirty nine hundred West Market Street inGreensboro, and in September or early October,
depending on the building. We hopeand have to open our second shop
in high Point at five oh fourNorth Main Street in high Point. It's
the corner of Church Street and highPoint, right there where the high Point

(10:56):
Rockers are. Oh, that's rightnext to where we're going to be our
fake You can come get coffee everysingle day exactly. And I see you
have pastry two and I'm a suckerfor carbs, so yeah, I was
looking at the menu as well,and I think that's worth it mentioned.
It's not just coffee. You're servingup some really tasty treats. We have
delicious pastries, desserts, we haveice cream, we have key we have

(11:18):
cheesecakes. And you really are afull service coffee shop, like you have
Americanos, you have cappuccinos, youname it. You guys can make it.
I would say we're beyond full service. Yeah, we make all of
that. But one of the funthings is that our baristas create their own
creations and so we have a lotof specialty drinks created by our crew members

(11:43):
that are delicious, which poses thequestion, Emily, have you made a
drink yet or if you haven't,what's your favorite thing on the menu.
It's funny. I don't drink coffee, but we do have milkshakes, and
I love a good milkshake, carfectwhat's your favorite milkshake? Whenever we have
it? Right now, we havethe birthday cake ice cream from her She's,

(12:05):
which is really really good. Wow. And I feel like if you
wanted to sit a shout out today, you want to say hi to any
of the folks that work over thereand just say, hey, you're doing
a great job. Hey, Megan, Hayle, Elizabeth, Hey you guys,
Okay, here you go. Well, we're so excited that you're in

(12:26):
our community. And gosh, Emily, I could not be more impressed with
you. You are so amazing andarticulate and joyful, and I think you're
a great representative of what it seemslike to me a special blend is all
about. You're very special. Ihope you feel that. Thank you.
Yeah, it's it's so great tohave you. And thanks to d d
on good team. You know whatI should never do last We should all

(12:50):
just be first name basis, herewe go. And Katie for coming in
as well. She's a development coordinator. Be a Jeanie and Emily Merritt a
special blend. It's a special placeright here in our community. Let's go
support it one more time. Ifyou could give us the location so maybe
we can swing by asap and getsome of that delicious coffee. Yes,
thirty nine hundred West Market Street andGreensboro, and in a couple of months

(13:16):
we will be open in high Point, our second store at five oh four
North Main Street in high Point.Let's go get it, enjoy it,
and we certainly appreciate the time thismorning. Thanks for joining us today for
Carolina Cares.