Welcome!
I’m Karen, CEO of Ability 2 Work.
People say we are crazy and I suppose we are going one step further in proving them right: we’ve decided to blog. No, really it’s true.
That’s right, with no free time, and more things to do than time; we’ve added blogging to the list.
Why?
Great question!
In the short 18 months we have been operating, we’ve received a plethora of questions from the public, other parents of differently-abled, and the community than we can answer.
We love the questions.
And of course we have questions too.
We decided to divide up the blogging-unconventional and rouge (that’s pretty much our style!) So between, staff (culinary and support), volunteers and our management team, we’ll be sharing our collective story from many different points of view. We are even looking for guest customer bloggers (hint, hint.)
Grab one of our #top 20 NJ bakery house made croissant, some of our award winning coffee or tea and enjoy our new blog. We hope you’ll learn and grow with us, share our inspiration (“the kids”) as well as our healthy gourmet comfort food.
Oh, one last thing: “the kids” is a phrase we use for the differently-abled young adults with Ability 2 Work at Baker’s Treat cafe. We do it on purpose. It signifies to us and to the world that we claim kin-ship with all of the differently-abled at Baker’s Treat. We belong to the Ability 2 Work community, a community we have built together, one in which we over come the bleak outlook for the differently-abled.
Frist up: Marjorie. Our operations manager, all-around lovely person, beautiful soul.
Enjoy and thank you for all the ways you support Ability 2 Work. We hope our blogging is a blessing to you.
Be Well,
Karen
Let’s play a game. How about we imagine the perfect workplace? What would it be like? What if you were doing a job you absolutely love? What if every day you walked in and your coworkers smiled at you? What if you got to learn new things all the time? What if you were constantly challenged to learn new skills? To do better, to be better? What if, while you were challenged, you were also completely, 100% supported? What if the response to mistakes, failure, and falling short, was “how can I support you?” Or “let’s figure out what went wrong together?” What if you were in a place where smiles, love, and support where the norm?
Now let’s imagine something else. Let’s imagine that you spent your whole life with assumptions that “you can’t” , “you wont” and “you’ll never.” What if before you could walk, your parents were told that there was something “wrong” with you? What if during formative years doctors, teachers and “the professionals” told your parents that learning would be “difficult”. Basic skills like problem solving, speaking in complete sentences, or speaking at all were “maybe’s”. What if you constantly felt limited by your diagnosis? What if others felt the same? What if the school system couldn’t provide you with one-on-one support you needed to become the best you could be? What if you started in a school that supported you, but as you changed schools, or as the budget was cut, that support system was taken away? What if you turned 21, and graduated school, and all the support that helped do you learn and grow was just taken away? What if you try to find a job, maybe with the support of your family and some members of the community? What if most people couldn’t be bothered to even consider hiring you because they think you can’t do what they need? What if the only places that hire you give you maybe four or five hours a week, stuck in a back room where no one can see you, doing jobs that you don’t like and don’t really matter to you? What if the government only gives you a pittance as “support” and micro manages the sum so that it isn’t truly useful to your needs? What if you could feel all of that, but you don’t have a way to express it? What if everywhere you went, people stepped aside, stared at you, but looked away as soon as you try to make eye contact? What if this was every single day?
Have you immersed yourself in those situations? Let’s imagine one more circumstance.
Imagine that second scenario was your life, and then imagine if you found the kind of workplace described in the first scenario? What if your child was differently abled, and you found a place that saw all the good and potential in your child?
What Baker’s Treat and Ability 2 Work do is solve the problems in the second scenario, through the environment described in the first. The differently-abled young adults who come to us are cherished, and supported. Every day they are greeted with smiles, instead of stares and awkward hellos. They are taught new skills, at each of their own unique skill levels. They work in all locations, and all aspects of what we do.
They are in the bakery, the kitchen, they put away groceries, they fold laundry, they do the nitty-gritty in the cleanup work, but they also make those incredible savory recipes you come to Baker’s Treat for, and they make such fantastically delicious baked goods that win awards. Their work is proudly showcased. Their names are on the dishes. Their pictures are all over the café. They are encouraged to greet customers, and they’re learning customer service. This is not because we want to “look charitable.” This is because we love them and are proud of them.
Every day we go to work knowing that we get to do something spectacular, and we get to see their smiling faces. And every day they come in to work knowing that they are in a safe place, that they are supported. It is an honor to work with these incredible kids. They challenge us, just as we challenge them.
Beyond the challenges are something miraculous. Every differently-abled person at Ability 2 Work has made major strides in all skill levels. Social, emotional, conceptual, life and technical job skills.
It’s as simple as this: the community of “experts”, institutional systems and even parents have ignored the intrinsic human needs of this population. To be valued, appreciated, supported for the contribution they make, ignites the ability to overcome. Time again the comments we hear from parents is, “you don’t every see anyone upset here—it’s amazing!”
We are so proud of the work we do, we are so proud to live in a community where so many people make it a point to stop in and support the kids. Everything you buy from Baker’s Treat they have a hand in creating. Everything you buy from Baker’s Treat helps them grow. Every penny you spend at Baker’s Treat, every bite of delicious five star food, goes to making their world a better place.
Can you imagine anything better than that?