Top of page
Education and Employment

Coffee shop hires people with developmental disabilities

Staff posing for a picture
Photo: Bitty and Beau's

The community is celebrating a new coffee shop ‘Bitty & Beau’s’ in Annapolis, that employs teens and adults with developmental disabilities.

Bitty & Beau’s coffee shop, a North Carolina-based business, founded by Amy Wright and Ben Wright her husband that is unique for its hiring policy: exclusively employing people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, such as Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, and autism.

Amy and Ben Wright, named the coffee shop after two of their children, Bitty and Beau, who both have Down syndrome.

The Annapolis cafe is their fifth location.

“It sort of means family to me because they are a family to me and everybody else. They hire people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.” said Michael Heup, an employee at Bitty and Beau’s.

For some employees, the coffee shop is life-changing. For more information, go to their website.

You might also like

young woman in wheelchair with colleagues working in office young woman in wheelchair with colleagues working in office

Big firms struggle to reduce disability bias, study finds

Working for a big company or in an HR role…

employee with Down syndrome standing in a supermarket employee with Down syndrome standing in a supermarket

Australian employers benefit from hiring persons with disabilities, study finds

Employers reap $40 in savings for every dollar invested in…

employee with Down syndrome standing in a supermarket employee with Down syndrome standing in a supermarket

Pilot program for young people with intellectual disabilities

A collaboration between the Western Australian charity Good Sammy, the…

Young pretty female in casualwear sitting in wheelchair by desk and looking at computer screen Young pretty female in casualwear sitting in wheelchair by desk and looking at computer screen

Disability sector needs funding to meet minimum wage boost

The disability sector welcomes pay increases for disability workers, but…