Inclusive Coffee, conceived in June 2019 by Eileen Weadick, is an early stage social enterprise. Eileen is the mother to two sons, Fionán who is 16 and JJ who is 2. Fionán was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome (part of the Autistic Spectrum Disorders) when he had just turned 5. Over the years Eileen has worried about what Fionán’s future will hold. National statistics show that the employment rate of people with intellectual disabilities is just 17% compared to 66% with those of no disability.
In recent years there has been a lot of progress made in improving these statitics through govenment supported schemes such as EmployAbility which focuses on the individual in preparing them for employment, and the The Disability Awareness Support Scheme which provides support to potential employers of individuals with Intellectual Disabilities and Autism.
Another great programme is the Cope Foundation’s Ability@Work programme. This is a dedicated supported employment service which aims to bring young people with intellectual disabilities and /or autism closer to the labour market.
Despite this progress, the 2017 ESRI report on Employment Transitions Among People with Disabilities in Ireland states that the chances of entering employment are still particularly low for those with intellectual disability. We would like to help change this.
In a nutshell, we would like to create employment opportunities for these individuals by creating coffee shops that employ only individuals with Intellectual Disabilities and Autism. Further more, we would like to use these coffee shops as an outreach platform that advocates for the value, inclusion and acceptance of people with Intellectual Disabilities and Autism in society and the workplace.
OUR MISSION:
To advocate for the value, inclusion and acceptance of people with Intellectual Disabilities and Autism in society and the workplace. We will do this by;
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Creating awareness of the barriers facing individuals with intellectual disabilities and Autism in entering and progressing in the workplace
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Increasing the value and acceptance of these individuals in society and the workplace through outreach programmes
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To educate and empower potential employers in becoming more inclusive by educating and assisting them through the entire employment lifecycle when employing people with intellectual disabilities and Autism
OUR VISION:
- To create an outreach platform through a chain of coffee shops throughout Ireland that employ only people with Intellectual Disabilities and Autism.
- To create outreach programmes through our “Inclusive Coffee Cart” which will travel to businesses and schools throughout Ireland
To find out more about where the inspiration came from, read our story by following this link
To read more detail about the basis of our project, follow this link