New Jersey cafe employs, offers hope to dozens of adults with disabilities

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Thursday, February 6, 2020
New Jersey cafe employs, offers hope to dozens of adults with disabilities
Toni Yates reports on the No Limits Cafe in Middletown, New Jersey.

MIDDLETOWN, New Jersey (WABC) -- A New Jersey restaurant that opened Thursday will be serving up more than just good food - they will also offer hope and inspiration.

No Limits Café on Route 35 has a unique mission to hire adults with developmental disabilities.

The café started as a dream of loving parents who were on a mission.

"We had a daughter who has Down syndrome and when she was 18, she can stay in high school until she's 21, so we had three years to figure out what is she going to do after high school when she turns 21 because that period in a person with intellectual disabilities life is called falling off the cliff," founder Stephanie Cartier said.

The café has a mission to teach life skills to 36 people with intellectual disabilities. Some employees are nonverbal and others use a mobile device like a wheelchair or walker.

"I've known some of these children for a long time, they were my yoga students when they were younger, so I've been excited to watch their journey," resident Tricia Maguire said.

"Everybody should be able to work and make a reasonable wage and not piecemeal at 10 cents a piece," resident Rev. Rosemarie Newberry said.

The café and the job both mean the world to employees like Cassidy Miller.

"I love this job. I hope more and more people come in," Miller said.

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