Georgia coffee shop’s program helps businesses embrace hiring people with disabilities

ATLANTA — A small coffee shop in Georgia is sparking a much bigger movement, helping businesses across the state rethink who gets a chance to work.

At Brightside Cafe, every employee is an adult with special abilities. But what started as one inclusive workplace quickly revealed a much larger need.

“There are so many people that are just waiting for a space,” co-owner Jennifer Elinberg said.

The numbers back that demand. In 2024, the employment rate for people with disabilities in the United States was 22.7%, compared to 65.5% for those without disabilities, a gap of more than 40 percentage points.

At Brightside alone, there’s a waitlist of 85 people. Another local organization, Special Needs and Treats, has a waitlist of 175.

“We teach businesses how to hire people with special abilities,” Elinberg said. “It’s not that businesses don’t want to, they just don’t know how to.”

So she and co-owner Carrie Walton created the Brightside Empower Ability Network, also known as BEAN. The program trains and mentors businesses on hiring and supporting employees with disabilities, while also connecting them to a pool of candidates ready to work.

“We want to walk alongside them, and show them and teach them the strategies to be successful,” Elinberg said.

The program is already expanding. It started with five businesses and is now growing to more, ranging from restaurants to daycares, landscaping companies and salons.

“We’ve had all of these businesses that are nothing alike,” Elinberg said.

For many employers, the hesitation isn’t a lack of willingness; it’s uncertainty.

“The number one question I get when I’m talking to businesses is, ‘What’s my liability?'” Elinberg said. “And I have to go back and explain to them that there’s no more liability than to hire me.”

At Off the Rails Restaurant, manager Dylan Gilmette said the training helped answer those questions.

“When they came over and showed us the hiring process, it was just as easy as hiring anyone else,” Gilmette said. “How do we hire someone with special needs? What if they fall and get hurt? And they said, it’s just like hiring anyone else.”

That decision led them to hire 21-year-old Ryan Mathews for his first job.

“It means a whole lot,” Mathews said. “I have to work hard every day, give it all I got.”

From rolling silverware to making lime juice, Ryan has become a key part of the team.

“It started with rolling silverware, but now he’s doing all kinds of things, because they realize that he can do it,” Walton said.

Gilmette said Ryan stands out.

“I think he works harder than anyone else in here,” he said. “He’s consistent, he’s always asking to find more work to do, he always wants to learn more.”

And his impact goes beyond productivity.

“It just changes the atmosphere,” Gilmette said. “You hear him laughing through the restaurant.”

For Ryan, the job is about more than a paycheck.

“I care about this job and them at the same time,” he said. “I always want to show them that I’ve got what it takes.”

It’s exactly what the BEAN program is designed to do, not just create jobs, but create belonging.

“He feels a part of something bigger than him, and that’s what this is all about,” Walton said.

So far, six people have already been hired off the waitlist through the program, with more expected as additional businesses join.

“They are up for the task,” Walton said. “They’re d”dicated, loyal, and they want to be at work, on time, early even, every day.”

For Ryan, that opportunity is something he doesn’t take lightly.

“I always wanted a job,” he said. “Now I always want to do my best.”