News and Knowledge

Like many young adults with autism, Cameron Graham’s opportunities to find a rewarding career were extremely limited. Her ability to contribute to her community was not.

So her parents, Ellen and Jim Graham, jumped off a cliff. Not literally. Still, when you hear their story, you may think it’s about as close to the reality of jumping off a cliff as a metaphor can get.

The cliff’s name: Cameron’s Coffee & Chocolates.

The Prep Work

Ellen and Jim understood the challenges and obstacles Cameron was likely to face finding a job so they turned the job search around. They decided to create an employment opportunity for Cameron that would take into account her strengths, including the training she had gotten in a culinary program and her extroverted personality. And they wanted to be able to employ others with intellectual disabilities as well. They also wanted the business to be self-sustaining so it could continue beyond their involvement.

At the end of 2011, the Grahams got down to the hard work of planning the shop that became Cameron’s Coffee & Chocolates. Since they knew they wanted to run the shop as a nonprofit, they first registered Every1 Can Work as a nonprofit umbrella corporation for the shop.

Their considerable joint experience came in handy. Ellen has 20 years of experience working for a commercial bank. She also has many ties to the Fairfax, Va., community, which gives her access to a wide and deep pool of volunteers. She describes Jim as “a serial entrepreneur. He still runs a business but has the flexibility to work with us as well.” Both she and Jim had served on nonprofit boards, providing them with a knowledge base of what was needed to operate a nonprofit.

Ellen runs the nonprofit and the shop, putting in 60-hour weeks as its volunteer treasurer. Jim is the volunteer marketing expert. Their son, Jay, provided social media expertise while he was in college. They employ a store manager to provide retail restaurant experience and expertise.

Open for Business

The shop opened on October 1, 2013 with a menu that had already expanded beyond chocolate. “When we still planning the shop, we discovered that there was no place nearby to buy coffee. That’s when we decided to add coffee and baked goods in addition to the chocolate,” Ellen explains. They soon discovered that their business was dead during the lunch rush, leading to the menu expanding even further with wraps and a daily quiche. Since then, they have added products based on customer demand.

Today, 14 people with intellectual disabilities work there in addition to other employees.
Employees take on a wide range of tasks, from making cookies and granola and bagging chocolates to restocking, cleaning, and helping with the dishes. Job coaches work alongside the workers, helping or working on their own tasks. “Everyone who works here loves it,” Ellen says. “Our employees with intellectual disabilities can do whatever job is open that day. If they were working somewhere else as a dishwasher, for example, that’s what they would have to do every day. Here, tasks and expectations are different. We are helping our employees to move toward their goals for independence.”

She illustrates that concept with this story: An employee who stocks the chocolate case every day was asked to teach a drop-in employee how to do the stocking. “In her life, no one had ever asked to teach someone else a skill. She did a great job and she was so patient and so excited to have that opportunity,” Ellen explains.

“Our workers make mistakes. Some days, we have to throw away batches of cookies or clean up messes. They are allowed to fail so they can learn from their mistakes and not repeat them. Like everyone else, they can rise to the occasion, but they have to be given those opportunities.”

At Every1 Can Work, those opportunities extend beyond the job to life skills training and support. “Our employees get training in work, life, and social skills. We can also provide the level of protection our community needs, like job coaches to go with employees to shop for groceries, for example,” Ellen explains. Employees often share breaks and lunches together, which helps to support social skills and strengthen relationships.

The shop also relies heavily on volunteers. “Lots and lots of them,” says Ellen. “My friends will tell you I leave no stone unturned when I need help.” She has recruited a friend to act as the volunteer coordinator for the store’s busiest time between Halloween and Christmas. High school students come in to meet their community service hours. Service organizations provide volunteers. Some people hear about the store and call or show up to help, she says.

Making It Your Business

Ellen realizes that most parents do not have the resources to do what she and Jim did. That’s why they share what they have learned with parents and others as well. They recently talked with a group of William and Mary college students interested in social entrepreneurship, for example.

As she notes, parents can band together to start a similar business in their communities. They do not have to do it by themselves. And there are other routes to the same goal, she says. Find out what your child is passionate about, whether it is painting or lawn mowing or whatever and then find or create ways for them to make a job out of that passion.

“It is hard. This is how change occurs,” she says. “Are there days I wake up and think I’m too old to do this? Is it scary? Yes. But there is no better motivator than the love we have for our children.”