Building belonging: Grand Haven’s Kenzie’s Cafe serves up inclusion, independence
At Kenzie's Be Cafe, everyone is welcome to come as themselves. After all, its mission statement is all about creating a more inclusive and supportive community, and the cafe does just that.
GRAND HAVEN — At Kenzie's Be Cafe, everyone is welcome to come as themselves. After all, its mission statement is all about creating a more inclusive and supportive community, and the cafe does just that.
From what originally started as an idea by owner Erin Lyon to have adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities working at Jumpin Java — her original cafe in Grand Haven — it turned into a cafe carefully operated by 15 adults with disabilities running the show.
“I had wanted to hire people with disabilities from the get-go,” Lyon explained, “but again, I understand how people feel — you just want to make sure you’re doing everybody justice.”
The idea began as a way for adults with disabilities living at Gracious Grounds, a nonprofit that supports independent living for adults with disabilities, to have employment and a way to provide for themselves.
As a way to see how it could be done, Lyon reached out to Brody Be’s Cafe, which originally was a sister cafe to Kenzie's Be Cafe. Immediately after the conversation, planning for Kenzie's Be began and, on Halloween 2022, it opened with a hired team of 25 baristas.
With only a week of training under their belt, everybody was nervous, but the mission of the cafe was there from the start.
“I wish we would have captured those moments … had cameras, to watch staff go from head down, not making eye contact, to now … they know each other’s names, they’re joking the second customers walk through the door, they see somebody pull up, and they are already making their drink,” Lyon said of the baristas’ progress.
Lyon said she expected to have conversations with the baristas about daily things, but was delighted that instead, each day was and is spent telling her baristas how capable they are.
“We let them make mistakes,” said Lyon. “Things get spilled every day and, if it doesn’t, then we are probably not a coffee shop. It's just been an incredible journey.”
One thing Lyon wanted for the cafe was to be not just a job, but the start of her baristas’ careers. With four managers on staff and two baristas as leads, Lyon and her staff work hard to make sure that more than just lessons on coffee are being taught.
For Lyon, it starts with each barista having team goals and individual goals that are worked on throughout a couple-month period. Each day, goals are discussed and managers make notes, with the baristas revisiting notes as needed.
“Our staff is leaving notes almost every shift to say how the day went; sometimes we go back to square one and retrain. Depending on what’s going on in your life, your emotions can take over — we’re working on that,” said Lyon.
Lyon’s passion and love for her baristas and their overall success is obvious the minute she speaks about them. She said she knows more about their lives than a typical boss, but wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I think all of us as managers hope that we’re affecting them in such a positive way, that they know they can get out of here. That's the goal, for them to go, for them to fly,” said Lyon.
One barista working at Kenzie's Be is Shannon O’Keefe, who has been working there since the beginning. She works there once a week, as well as at what she proudly calls her dream job as a bartender at Off the Chain Brewstillery on Colfax Avenue in Grand Haven.
“That's my dream job; I’ve been working there since November,” O’Keefe told Ottawa News Network.
O’Keefe talked about her Shannon Summer Drink from Off the Chain and informed us that she loves making the smoothies at Kenzie's Be.
Recently, Lyon announced that the coffee shop will have a slight name tweak, going by Kenzie’s Cafe moving forward.
Java Jam, the biggest fundraiser of the year for Kenzie’s Cafe, took place on July 16 and featured live music, a talent show with some of the baristas from the cafe, and a raffle. All proceeds went to support Kenzie's Cafe, which in turn directly supports adults with disabilities.
At the event, each team member was given a role to help run the event; O’Keefe made drinks, and other baristas greeted guests and helped in other ways.
Lyon described the event as a way to get their baristas out and about and a way for them to shine in the community.
“Java Jam for me means you know chaos and stress and all those things, but also just pure joy. It's all your friends at one spot on one day,” said Lyon.
For more information on Kenzie’s Cafe, visit Instagram or stop by the shop at 1103 Washington Ave., Grand Haven.
— Mallory Burt is a reporter for Ottawa News Network. Contact her at newsroom@ottawanewsnetwork.org.
