These 7 NC businesses proudly employ people with intellectual and developmental disabilities

We’ve highlighted seven employers in North Carolina who help empower folks with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDDs) by offering meaningful work. 

According to Work Together NC, a statewide organization that helps North Carolinians with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) find the community support they need to transition and thrive as adults, employers regularly describe people with IDD in the workplace as dependable, engaged, motivated, and attentive to work quality.

With that in mind, it simply doesn’t stand to reason that 69% of adults with IDD in our state remain unemployed, while those who do find employment often report that they are underemployed, which can mean a lack of hours or being assigned menial tasks. 

Work Together NC brings together self-advocates, families, employers, state agencies, and service providers to improve access to opportunities and resources for folks living with IDD. That includes finding them meaningful jobs, which can be a source of empowerment while vastly improving quality of life. 

There are organizations such as The Arc of NC that do similar work. 

It is with the help of those organizations that we’ve compiled the list of employers in NC who are always open to hiring someone with an IDD. 

While Work Together NC’s list of employers in that category include a number of big-time corporations that are known to employ folks with IDDs — Harris Teeter, Hampton Inn & Suites, YMCA, and Chick-fil-A, just to name a few — we thought we’d highlight some businesses around the state that are specifically focused on providing meaningful work for people with IDD. 

Cakeable Cafe

401 North Tryon St., Suite 106, Charlotte

Cakeable, a Charlotte-based nonprofit workforce development program for adults who live with IDD, opened its first brick-and-mortar location, called Cakeable Cafe, in the spring.

According to a release from the business, “Cakeable’s mission is to empower people, businesses, and communities to achieve their fullest potential through inclusive work environments.” They do this by offering vocational training opportunities for 11 adults at their bakery location and now for 25 adults at Cakeable Cafe.

The Purple Bowl

306 W Franklin St., Suite B, Chapel Hill

Inspired by a 2016 trip to California during which the owners discovered the joys of acai bowls, the Gilland family opened their first shop on West Franklin Street in 2017 and expanded it out in 2022 to better accommodate their staff of 60. 

While most of the staff at The Purple Bowl are UNC-Chapel Hill students, CEO Karen Gilland is deliberate in ensuring that at least 10% of the team comprises folks with IDD. In a 2023 Chapel Hill Magazine article celebrating the expansion, employee Lucia Romano, who has Down syndrome, said the job has taught her skills ranging from making acai bowls to point of sale to catering.  

Part & Parcel

1901 Chapel Hill Road, Durham

According to its website, Part & Parcel is “an eco-conscious store that serves as a model of neurodiversity through inclusive employment while seeking to reduce packaging waste and contribute to equitable food systems.” 

Run by Candor NC, formerly the Autism Support and Advocacy Center, a nonprofit organization that has been serving the community since 2010, Part & Parcel encourages employees to bring their full identities, share their ideas, and advocate for what they need to be successful in their work. The neuro-inclusive and affirming workplace operates on the principle that it is essential that all employees feel seen, valued, respected, and heard.

Esteamed Coffee

114 S. Academy St., Cary

Esteamed Coffee is a nonprofit coffee shop and cafe located in Cary with a mission to lower the unemployment rate and increase the quality of life for adults with intellectual, developmental, communication, and/or visual disabilities by creating meaningful jobs and social opportunities in a warm, supportive environment.

“We envision a world where adults with disabilities have access to meaningful work and social opportunities while being respected, represented, and fully integrated in every local community,” reads the shop’s website. 

HANDmeUPS Thrift

8320 Litchford Rd., Raleigh

A project of Engage NC, HANDMeUPs Thrift was with the sole purpose of providing employment and volunteer opportunities to individuals with autism and other developmental disabilities while meeting the community’s needs. The management team at HANDmeUPS understands the varying abilities of adults with developmental disabilities and provides a work environment where individuals can master specific tasks and be successful employees.

The store also acts as a platform to support micro-enterprises, helping individuals with autism and/or other IDDs exhibit and sell their artwork in the store.

Extraordinary Ventures

200 S. Elliott Rd., Chapel Hill

Speaking of micro-enterprises, Extraordinary Ventures is an umbrella organization that operates six ventures on a true business model — Extraordinary Laundry Service, Extraordinary Gifts, Blue Hill Event Center, Extraordinary Pet Service, Simple Clean, and Extraordinary Office Solutions — employing folks with IDD at each of them. Through all six businesses, Extraordinary Ventures has provided more than 200,000 hours of meaningful employment for individuals with IDD and autism over 15 years. 

“Our businesses provide real solutions for the real needs of the community while simultaneously creating paid job opportunities for a neurodiverse workforce,” reads the organization’s website. “Our goal for these endeavors is extraordinary … to enable every individual in our society the opportunity to achieve their highest quality of life, regardless of their intellectual and developmental abilities, by giving them a job and a purpose.” 

HÆRFEST COFFEE

919 Berryhill Road, Charlotte

Pronounced Harvest Coffee, HÆRFEST COFFEE was first inspired in 1998 by founder Toby Foreman’s brother, Ethan, who had an intellectual disability and worked alongside Toby for eight years at Diedrich Coffee in Irvine, California. Seeing how the job helped his brother thrive and grow his confidence and sense of value, Toby felt convicted to intentionally create a coffee roasting company to employ those who are often overlooked in the workforce.

Now father to a son with Down syndrome, Toby and his wife Cheri have grown HÆRFEST over 20 years into a company in which every aspect is intentionally created to provide a job for those with disabilities — from the artwork on the bags being commissioned by individuals with a disability to roasting, grinding, packaging, delivery, and home-based microbusinesses for those unable to work outside of the home.  

This article first appeared on Good Info News Wire and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.