The Black Cat Coffee Project has their quarterly pop-up Saturday, July 19th in Cottleville. They're a non profit started by a motivated group of young people with disabilities who were sitting around Tracy Bono's kitchen table talking one day a few years ago.
"They were drawing pictures and they're all cat lovers so they were calling it the Black Cat Cafe and talking about their dream and so I encouraged them -- I said, well, do it! What's stopping you? Have your own pop-up! And then with the parents support at the time we had the first pop-up in my home."
The community embraced the idea and they quickly outgrew her home and now the pop ups are hosted all over the St. Charles area. Tracy Bono is now the Board President of the non-profit, and her son Frankie is on the coffee crew.
"We empower teens and young adults who have disabilities," Bono tells KMOX. "Being a young person with a disability, trying to get vocational experience is really hard."
Just getting that first opportunity is critical.
"For example, we have an individual named Luke who works for us on the coffee crew. Luke is amazing! He is such a hard worker! He is always listening. He is always prepared. He is always ready and paying attention, and he is limited with his verbal communication. So, he uses a device, a tablet, that he can pre-program some language in there and it's turned out that he is an incredible greeter for us."
The coffee and drinks are complimentary -- but tips are welcome!
Saturday's Summer pop-up is from 10a-1p
Avalon Park Independent Living
11001 Cottleville Trails Drive
October 11 is the next Pop-up from 9a-12p
Harvester Christian Church
2950 Kings Crossing
Find out more about The Black Cat Coffee Cafe here