Local entrepreneurs brew up cups of coffee — and pride

July 8, 2015 · 0 Comments

By Brock Weir

Working hard on her daily grind, Courtney Drodge helps serve up plenty of fresh coffee – but with each cup of coffee comes a cup of fresh optimism for each partner at their coffee shop.

The Aurora resident is manager of the new non-profit café Our Indie Coffee Project, which officially opened in Newmarket last Thursday. The company’s mandate is to provide the resources to help coffee kiosks spring up throughout York Region and South Simcoe to be owned and operated by persons with disabilities.

Their first café, which is on Leslie Street, is a multipurpose effort, combining not only the café, but also their in-house coffee bean roastery and training centre.

“A group of individuals who have connections with adults with disabilities – developmental, intellectual, and Autism – came together and there was a real understanding amongst this group that there is something lacking after school and employment is very hard for these individuals,” says Ms. Drodge. “Some brainstorming happened and we came across Common Ground in Toronto. They have a really neat concept of adults with disabilities opening their kiosks, being partners in the business, and running the business as their own with a little bit of help.”

The minds behind Our Indie Coffee Project, however, were prepared to take the concept one step further into a non-profit social enterprise combining it with the roastery. The money raised from selling their freshly roasted coffee to individuals and organizations is then funnelled back into the business to be used for the start-up costs for each kiosk and café. The idea is the individual cafes then become a for-profit business and all the money raised in their efforts go to the partners – the individuals with disabilities.

“A lot of people with disabilities end up doing a lot of volunteer work,” says Ms. Drodge. “It is wonderful they are out there doing things like that, but we want to have them paid because there is dignity in work. There is the feeling of value when you get a paycheque at the end of the month. This way, because the café is owned and operated by the partners, there is profit sharing. After all the expenses are subtracted at the end of the month, any profit left over is spread equally among the partners based on the time they were helping at the café.”

This feeling of value is already being shared amongst the eight partners at the current Newmarket café. In connection with Community Living of South Simcoe, partners have come not just from York Region, but also Tottenham, Bradford, Vaughan and Oshawa.

On site, the partners are honing their barista skills while also keeping an eye on opportunities to branch out. Ideal locations, says Ms. Drodge, include partnerships in municipal facilities like community centres and libraries, as well as medical and office buildings where people often stop for a coffee break.

Soft-launched just over three months ago, in the lead-up to last week’s grand opening, Ms. Drodge says she has been struck by the positive feedback their efforts have garnered. At the celebrations, she says many partners kept saying how “thankful” they were to have the opportunity.

“Their word was how ‘privileged’ they were to work here and that kind of caught us off guard because they are amazing workers. Who wouldn’t want them around?” she says. “They do amazing work and it is very strange that the pride that work gives them [is something] they didn’t feel before they came to work here.”

Ms. Drodge has a three-year background as a social service worker, helping with special needs clients of all ages. She simply likes people, she says, and in recognizing people that have “been dealt a different hand in life” it is important to also recognize the “whole person.”

As the enterprise gets off the ground, they are focusing on their “triple bottom line” of environmental, social and economic sustainability. Their bags are compostable and recyclable, they try to generate as little garbage and emissions as possible, and their social and economic efforts can be best exemplified in their partners.

“Are they getting out? Are they learning new skills? Are they interacting with people they otherwise wouldn’t be interacting with? Just in the three months here, a few friendships form between partners and I am also seeing confidence levels increase in partners that have been very quiet and timid and have had trouble talking; they’re now engaging customers and asking questions, or they are trying something new that they were not entirely sure about.

“We have also seen an increase in sales and partners being more ambitious in getting out there, doing a bit of marketing and really trying to make their business grow. It comes back to seeing the whole person and seeing the whole business. It is not just about the money, it is about all these other aspects as well. We’re different, but different is good. Different allows all these great things to happen. Different doesn’t mean bad, different is good. If you want something different, we’re it – and different can be amazing!”