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Brody's Be Café is helping people with disabilities start a future

This new coffee and tea shop is doing more than just brewing delicious drinks. They're also helping bridge the gap in employment for those with special needs.

KENT COUNTY, Mich. — A new coffee shop has opened in Ada that's helping people with disabilities grow their future.

Brody's Be Café opened in Ada Village at the end of October. The coffee and tea shop focuses on training and employing people with intellectual disabilities.

The owner, Jenny Cole, founded the nonprofit café earlier in 2019 with the mission to bridge the gap between those with intellectual or developmental disabilities and those without through meaningful employment. The shop pairs teens and adults who have special needs with peer coaches to help train them and offer support.

RELATED: Ada coffee shop to employ youth with special needs

For Jenny, the mission of Brody's Be Café runs deeper. She is the mother of a Forest Hills school district student named Brody, for which the coffee shop got its name.

The café has hired 10 baristas or as they call them "Be-Ristas" who earn minimum wage and can help develop their future.

You can follow Brody's be Café on Facebook.

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