The café will be a unique training ground that connects the job with the person.
Parents are faced with the task of preparing their children for adulthood. It is no easy task, especially when options for your child are limited.
When Kristin and Brent Lape of Madison learned their daughter Lily had Down Syndrome, they began to plug in with families of children with Down Syndrome and other disabilities for support, direction, and community. That’s when they saw a gap for children in Mississippi with intellectual disabilities.
“We were learning through parents of older kids that there weren’t many options for finding reliable work,” said Kristin.
She said parents were frustrated.
“And they are capable of work,” said Kristin. “They just need direction that meets them where they are.”
This need could not be ignored. Even though Lily was only in preschool, the Lapes began working toward The Lilypad, a café that will employ and train young adults with intellectual disabilities.
The Lilypad website cites a statistic from the U.S. Department of Labor that nearly 81 percent of people with disabilities are unemployed. Lape said the underemployment of these very capable individuals is one reason why The Lilypad will not be just a place for people with intellectual disabilities to work but a training ground.
“This is a training ground – it’s a lilypad,” said Lape. “Just like frogs leap from one lilypad to another, we hope to train these folks so they can work at other places as well.”
Why the service industry?
The restaurant industry has a lot of moving parts to function, which is why it works for a place to help people with intellectual disabilities find a job and learn those valuable employment skills.
“We find the tasks that meet the unique abilities and needs of the person we’re training,” said Lape.
For example, someone on the autism spectrum may be overwhelmed by the loud environment of a restaurant dining room at lunch hour. Lape said they would still find something else for that individual.
“They could come to work before opening for the day and help with prep or cleaning,” Lape added. “We’re carving out the job for the person, not the other way around.”
Having a restaurant as a training ground for people with disabilities is not an entirely new idea. There are several locations following that model, and the staff of The Lilypad have visited with and been mentored by those at Hugs Cafe in McKinney, Texas.
Hugs is a very similar organization to what Lilypad will be in Mississippi. Hugs aims to employ, train, and competitively pay adults with intellectual disabilities.
“We believe in offering Hope, Understanding, Grace, and Success (HUGS) to each individual so they can be recognized for their talents in the community,” the motto reads on the Hugs website.
However, the training Hugs offers doesn’t end with its employees. The Lapes were able to go to the cafe in McKinney to learn how an organization like this operates.
“Hugs Cafe created an environment the employees could thrive off of,” said Lape. “I got to work side-by-side with some of them, and the employees there were training me on how to do things.”
What’s next for Lilypad?
Opening a restaurant is a daunting experience anyway, especially one with such a mission. But Lape said she’s confident with her experience in the restaurant industry so far.
“I have experience in a kitchen,” said Lape. “I have the one day at Hugs Cafe!”
Local restaurants and business owners have stepped in to help get Lilypad started.
“People in the community have reached out to us,” Lape said. “Business owners and restaurant owners are kind of rallying behind us and advising us.”
Lape said she feels confident that the cafe will open in 2023, but she’s not quite sure yet what an opening would look like. A soft open is likely, as is a waiting list to start, to allow the Lilypad crew the opportunity to earn those valuable training moments before the hustle and bustle sets in.
“We’re not sure when we will for sure open to the public, because we want to start off as table service as well as grab and go, not just counter service,” Lape said. “That way we can teach all these valuable skills and get that full training experience for those who are coming to learn.”
From building and renovation to operation costs, the Lilypad Cafe, a non-profit, has relied solely on the donations of its supporters. For more information about The Lilypad Cafe, visit thelilypadms.com
Courtney Ingle
