Empowering Employment and Community Connections at Kindness Cafe
- admincoordinator20
- Mar 18
- 2 min read
March is Developmental Disabilities Awareness month, a time to promote inclusion for individuals with developmental disabilities in all areas of society. This month, the FCIDD is spotlighting the work of some of it's supported partners.
Kindness Cafe is a nonprofit coffee shop that employs adults with cognitive disabilities in Charlottesville, VA. Founded in 2020, Kindness provides meaningful employment for adults who historically have had limited job opportunities. Additionally, Kindness creates a joyful community space where individuals with and without disabilities interact as peers.
Finding Strong Support from the Thomas Jefferson Civitan Club
In Charlottesville, our local Civitan Club includes several community members who have dedicated their professional lives to serving adults with disabilities. One of these Civitan members, Bryan, has been supporting Kindness from the very beginning. He’s held countless meetings at our cafe, knows all our staff by name, and has invited Kindness supporters to join the local Civitan Club. Because of Bryan and others in this club, Kindness was excited about the opportunity to apply for an FCIDD grant in 2024.
Kindness Expands: New Location, New Opportunities, and a Mission of KINDNESS
"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle." -Ian MacLaren
2024 was a BIG year for Kindness. After 4 years of operating out of the lobby of our local YMCA, a local church invited Kindness to open a 2nd location in Charlottesville. We were thrilled with the opportunity and excited to hire new staff and welcome new customers into this space. First, though, we needed to renovate the space and purchase equipment.
FCIDD provided the perfect grant for us. While we were presented a great opportunity to expand our team and share our mission more broadly, we needed financial support to take these steps forward. Because of FCIDD, we were able to purchase the equipment needed to set up our space. With additional local funding, we raised enough money to fully fund the project.
In December of 2024 Kindness opened our second location! We hired 9 new staff members with cognitive disabilities. Many of these staff members had never had a paying job before. All are capable of working. All will benefit from this experience far beyond the paycheck they’ll receive. Working at Kindness, provides a sense of purpose, opportunities for challenge and growth, and social connection.
Finally, we love welcoming new customers into this space. We love that everyone who enters sees adults with disabilities engaged in meaningful work.
Kindness Cafe is beyond grateful for the many people and organizations including FCIDD who have supported our opening of this location, our hiring of new team members, and the ability to share our mission with more customers!
