Fostering Inclusion, One Cup of Coffee at a Time

For many of us, coffee marks the start of every morning. That’s true, too, for staff and visitors at the Barry Family Campus, which houses the Minneapolis Jewish Federation at the Jewish Community Center’s Minneapolis location.

And that daily ritual is what inspired the team at the two organizations to create a new outlet to give back to its community.

By employing adults with disabilities, the Kavod Coffee Cart has not only become a stop for campus visitors to get their caffeine fix, but it’s also fostered a community centered around inclusion, education, and great coffee.

A new outlet for community

Kavod Coffee might be new to Minneapolis, but the team at MJF and JCC took inspiration from a cafe with a similar model in Minneapolis’ sister city, Rehovot, Israel.

The Barry Family Campus already had programming in place for adults with disabilities, so the coffee cart felt like a natural next step that would create a fun new outlet for community members to learn real-world job skills.

“We have a robust program for adults with disabilities. And one of the areas that we have been wanting to expand is job readiness programs to give them the skills to be able to find work and be successful,” said Alex Fisher, Chief Program Officer at JCC.

“It’s both a way to both bring something new to our programming and provide a different channel to include people. So that’s how the idea came to be,” said Eilat Harel, MFJ’s Chief Impact Officer.

Getting off the ground

Eventually, the two organizations worked up a plan to open the coffee cart in the building’s lobby. Before things could get off the ground, the team had to work through logistics like plumbing and electricity.

MJF and JCC’s work paid off, and Kavod Coffee opened last fall with a grand opening in January. The project represents a meaningful partnership between the two organizations and their shared values.

“When two large organizations like this come together and work together so well and collaboratively, it really strengthens the fiber of the community. And so there’s been a real strengthening effect on our community just because of the partnerships that we’ve had together,” Fisher said.

Kavod Coffee has already proven to be a huge success in the building. With a variety of coffee drinks and other beverages, the cart has something for everyone.

Still, the best part for both the cart’s employees and the customers they serve is the community it’s fostered.

For Rachel, Kavod Coffee’s job coach, seeing the employees get hands-on experience while making those connections is one of the most rewarding parts of the role.

Whether they’re learning to operate an espresso machine or working on their customer service skills, employees at Kavod Coffee get something out of every part of the job. Just as important, employees also receive a living wage for their work.

“I have found it rewarding to help the associates learn a job that connects them with the community, has high expectations and is still fun,” Rachel said. “This is such a great opportunity for the associates, and the integration into the community has been excellent.”

“Moving forward, we are looking to find businesses that would like to support this initiative because we want to make it sustainable for our community and for the employees,” said Shai Avny, MFJ’s Chief Operating Officer.

While it’s still in its first year, the community response to Kavod Coffee has been overwhelming.

“The feedback from the community, from everyone, is that people are so happy that it’s here,” Avny said. “We work together as one team because we have one goal in mind to help the Jewish community. And I think we did an amazing job together, and we did it with a big smile on our faces.”