Special Report Covid Coffee Chronicles Episode 75 Aspire CoffeeWorks Better Together This week we continue with our series on minority owned coffee business and organizations that highlight previously marginalized, or overlooked groups. In this episode we focus on the latter heading to Chicago Illinois, Aspire CoffeeWorks. This is a company dedicated to employing adults with and without disabilities working side by side. Can you change a life simply by buying coffee... tune in this week to find out. And how good is the coffee? How about award-winning roast? Our first guest this week is Katie Welge,managing director at Aspire CoffeeWorks. When society overlooks people with disabilities it takes more than just a few well meaning people to step up.Enter Metropolis Coffee, renowned for their award winning java and dedication to sustainability, and fair trade. When approached with the idea of becoming a corporate sponsor for Aspire they jumped on board and Aspire CoffeeWorks was born. Here everyone loves coming to work, no joke. Adults with and without disabilities work together in a productive, successful (and profitable) environment. Did someone say a template for a nationwide program? The only thing you will be left wondering is why you haven’t thought of, or participated in this. Truly inspiring and life-changing coffee sales, where 100% of net proceeds go to programs and services. Based on Katie's story we know where she got her motivation and desire to work with these great employees. Highschooler's can be intentionally or unknowingly cruel sometimes, but Katie managed to find a societal solution for these acts… and she did it during her lunch hour. Meet Ben, our next guest who has Fragile X syndrome, a genetic condition that causes a range of developmental problems including learning disabilities and cognitive impairment. He has been a team member at Aspire CoffeeWorks for the last five years, and is one of their biggest salesmen! What happened at an outreach during his presentation at a major law firm will not surprise you, once you listen to his interview! It takes lots of individuals, businesses and corporate connections to make this all work. Metropolis and Canteen are just two of the major partners. How did that come about and how can you get involved? We will take you through the whole program, selection hiring, training to full fledged “mock ups” of multiple real world opportunities. We tackle the rewards of stepping outside your comfort zone, related to people with disabilities. Much like the current challenges we face with social injustice and discrimination of people of color, we will remain fearful of people we don’t know. Katie encourages everyone to take a leap of faith and interact with these people with disabilities. Buy Aspire Coffee Now. Change a life and get award winning java. Win/Win. https://aspirecoffeeworks.com/product-category/coffee/ Check out this weeks Spotify Playlist for all the songs recommend by our guests. https://bit.ly/AspireCoffeeWorks Stayed tuned for additional new episodes of Covid Coffee Chronicles later this month! Remember if you have a question,or topic you want us to follow up on from this week, or any other episode of the CCCRS,we are happy to try to get that done in the segment we call Free Refills. Just leave us a message at our web-page https://crosscountrycoffeeroadshow.com/