The Way Coffee Company has been in business for just over a year, teaching job skills one cup of coffee at a time.
FENTON, Mich. (WJRT) – A nonprofit in Fenton is preparing young people with learning disabilities for the future.
The Way Coffee Company has been in business for just over a year, teaching job skills one cup of coffee at a time.
About 50 children work at The Way Coffee Company, a non-profit organization that takes in young people between the ages of 15 and 25 with learning disabilities and provides them with hands-on training.
“Students have specific needs,” says founder and director Olivia Sanders, “find their strengths and capitalize on them. This is very different from a lot of programs when you look at the public school system and the goals and the boxes that we put on students.”
Students learn a range of skills, from soft skills such as communication and time management to employability skills such as how to use a cash register and make coffee.
“I make the coffee, I run the cash register and I sell delicious donuts,” Steven Okunka said.
In addition to the physical location, students will be working out of the trailers at various community events, adding an additional challenge.
“Trailers have a unique aspect because they give us a huge advantage in terms of getting work: adaptability. We don’t know what the event is going to be like or how many people are going to show up,” Sanders explains. “So the trailer is often more valuable than the store because it forces our associates to adapt to the situation we’re in.”
It’s a skill Sanders believes can be applied to jobs without the safety net that The Way offers.
“We try to use the same point-of-sale terminals and things like that that you would in a real restaurant,” Sanders said. “We use systems like Square and online ordering, so they’re learning real-world skills.”