Thriving in the workplace

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Tuesday, February 21st. Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Nick Eicher.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown. Coming next on The World and Everything in It: thriving in the workplace.

For people with disabilities, finding a place in the workforce can be a challenge. They often need special accommodations, or struggle to meet expectations.

EICHER: A small business in Tennessee aims to make a difference—teaching business skills through coffee. Here’s WORLD reporter Grace Snell.

AUDIO: [Traffic, birds…]

GRACE SNELL, REPORTER: It’s a wet, gray day in eastern Tennessee. The building just off US-70 looks like an old bank—brown sloped roof, faux stone walls, a row of glass doors. But a sign out front announces the name “Riverside Coffee Shop” to passersby.

AUDIO: [Door opens…chatter…]

Inside, it’s as bright as the day is drab. High skylights illuminate tables and yellow accent chairs dotting the open floor plan.

FAITH LEE: Yeah, let me go get her...you can actually follow me...

In a side room, a middle-aged woman with long blonde hair chats with an employee.

LEE: We’ll pick up on this later…

HAVAH: Shall do…

LEE: Hi, I’m Angela…

Angela Lee is a mom, therapist, and founder of Riverside Coffee Shop. She started the business to help young adults with disabilities make the jump to the workforce.

Lee’s son Tristan is her inspiration. Tristan has Down’s Syndrome. He started a job as a janitor—and hated it.

LEE: He needed way more support than I was able to give him and then he said I hate to clean and I’m like I, there's got to be something better than janitorial services and bagging groceries for this for this population…

Laws require accommodations like wheelchair ramps for people with physical handicaps…

LEE: But if you have a learning disability, there is no law that says that there has to be environmental supports in place. And the stories I was, I was hearing was that they’re trying to work and that they’re getting fired for what as a behavior analyst, I would say it was stupid reason.

Lee is out to change that. She runs a life skills program out of the coffee shop. Most of Lee’s students are on the autism spectrum. Others have Down Syndrome, like Tristan.

LEE: We’re trying to get these young people employable, teaching them how to be a good employee, how to be a good coworker, how to follow the health department rules. If somebody’s coming on the floor…close-toed shoes, hair pulled back.

Faye Presley is the lead teacher. She’s been at Riverside for five months now. Today, Presley and the class are making Valentine’s Day cake pops.

PRESLEY: We did one round last week and they sold out. So we’re ready to start round two.

Five students—Tristan, Zach, Elliott, Amelia, and Claire—gather around a folding table and don rustling plastic gloves.

Lee’s 18-year-old daughter Faith helps out. She sports an AC/DC T-shirt and converse—hair clipped back.

FAITH LEE: Claire, did you already wash your hands? Yes. Are you ready for some gloves? Yeah…

Claire—quiet and dark-haired—struggles with her oversized gloves. Faith patiently coaches her along.

FAITH LEE: Go ahead and change out your glove. Do you want to go put them in the trash can? Thank you, Claire.

It’s a slow, repetitive process. But Lee says that’s key to learning. Staff rehearse good business practices with students over and over again.

PRESLEY: Now you gotta go wash your hands again. I know. That stinks. But we remember we’re doing this for customers is different than when we’re doing it for ourselves.

Presley sets a big bowl of red velvet cake on the table. Students plunge in armed with spoons.

PRESLEY: You can get a better angle if you’re standing up. So that might be…

FAITH LEE: I love the teamwork of you holding the bowl…

ZACH: Well, no it’s just if it falls off the table, I’ll have to clean it up…

STUDENTS: (Laughter)

AUDIO: [Music and chatter…]

Soon, it’s time for Claire’s shift in the coffee shop. She joins Havah, who’s already on duty.

LEE: You're waiting for Havah and then you guys are gonna start doing an inventory list of the products, okay? Umm. Click, click...music…

When it’s time to make a drink, Faith comes over to help Claire tackle the order—a vanilla latte.

AUDIO: [Coffee maker whirs…]

FAITH LEE: Alright, Claire, while we’re waiting can we start the milk?…That’s good. Perfect. Good job, Claire.

AUDIO: [Machine puffs…]

CLAIRE: Here’s your drink…

Amelia, a cheerful teen with tousled hair and glasses, comes in to wash up after operation cake pop.

AMELIA: Let me turn that off for a minute, I would say, making drinks sometimes can be fun. I don’t know a lot of drink orders, but I try my best. I have pretty bad social anxiety, so I like interacting with customers, but I'm just afraid I’ll make a mistake around one of them. 03:11 But, I’m allowed to make mistakes… I’m glad that nobody yells at me if I make a mistake or something like that.

Elliott, an outspoken girl with wispy blonde hair, also wanders over.

AUDIO: [Clinking…]

ELLIOTT: Need any help?

AMELIA: Oh, no thank you, I’m good.

ELLIOTT: Okay.

AMELIA: It’s a party…oops…it’s a party at the sink. I forgot about the bowl itself, I was so focused on the tiny instruments…

For Faye Presley and Angela Lee, every dish washed and every counter wiped is a step in the right direction.

PRESLEY: We’re showing our students that they can live a little bit more independently than they are right now. And they can work a little bit more independently than they are right now.

LEE: The research shows that the more independent we can become as an adult, the better quality of life. So that’s what we want to do. That’s our goal.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Grace Snell in Lenoir City, Tennessee.

BROWN: You know, Grace is such a talented young lady. She’s been so much help on our Safe Haven series. And, you know, she’s just getting started.

Grace is just one of our many excellent reporters who got her start by attending World Journalism Institute—only two years ago.

EICHER: Good reminder that it’s coming around again. Looking forward to heading up to Dordt University in Sioux Center, Iowa, and working with a new group of students.

And that might include you, if you’re a college student or the parent or grandparent of a college student with an aptitude for journalism.

We are taking applications now online at WJI.world. And let me just say, it is an involved application.

We’ve included a link in today’s transcript to learn more about WJI and as Myrna says, it’s a good idea to get started right away. The summer course runs from May 19th through June 3rd.

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