Walk into the building at the corner of Rugby Road and Gordon Avenue, and you will find a coffee bar staffed with baristas ready to serve you with a smile. The local nonprofit, Kindness Café + Play, recently opened a second location closer to the University. This unique establishment aspires to foster community and give their workers, all with intellectual and developmental disabilities, a strong sense of independence and self-confidence.
Through partnerships with the student-led organization Best Buddies, which facilitates relationships between students and adults with Intellectual or Developmental Disabilities, the Café has become a hub for meaningful interactions between those with and without disabilities.
During a 2017 trip to North Carolina, Katie Kishore, Kindness Café + Play founder, former Virginia two-sport athlete and Class of 2001 alumna, discovered Bitty & Beau’s Coffee in Wilmington, a café that employs individuals with cognitive disabilities, and found herself deeply inspired. As someone personally connected to its mission — with a daughter who has Down syndrome and a daughter who is typically developing — Kishore was moved by their mission to foster inclusivity and provide meaningful employment.
“I like the idea of this as a space where people with disabilities really feel a strong sense of belonging and ownership,” Kishore said.
Inspired by Bitty & Beau’s Coffee, Kishore started the Kindness Café in 2020 amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, the Café’s commission supports the business and community rather than profit-making. The business is for the community and its workers, Kishore said, and she emphasized that this mission is to foster a supportive environment, one where employees feel a sense of belonging and can build their self-confidence.
“We try to make sure that people feel [that] they're valued and appreciated [and] part of something bigger than themselves,” Kishore said.
Originally, the Café opened up in the lobby of the Brooks Family YMCA near McIntire Park, and after receiving positive feedback, they have recently expanded to another location on Rugby Road in hopes of connecting more deeply with the University community.
“I think it's a really great opportunity for U.Va. students to create relationships with or just simply have exposure to adults with disabilities if they don’t in other parts of their lives,” Kishore said.
Tyler and Daniel, two workers at the Café, greet customers with huge smiles, taking their orders and getting to work serving an assortment of drinks like coffee and smoothies, as well as pastries. Whether a customer is a regular or a newcomer, they are made to feel at home.
Tyler and Daniel said that the Café’s commitment to inclusion and accessibility makes them feel more comfortable in their workspace. Filled with reminders and visuals regarding operating equipment and barista processes, Kindness Café’s workspaces provide workers with extensive direction to help them feel independent while at work, Daniel said.
Director of Operations Regan Stillerman designs hands-on barista and customer service training for the Café’s workers, showing them how to do everything and asking for consistent feedback from the workers on what would make the environment as supportive as possible. Kindness Café also makes a strong effort to train its team to advocate for themselves in future professions.
“My goal in this community is for businesses and business owners, whoever they may be, to recognize the abilities that our team members have, to think to themselves, ‘What do I need in my own business, that I could hire an adult with a disability,’” Stillerman said. “‘What holes do I have that these great and talented people could come and fill in my space?’”
The Café’s new location on Rugby Road has allowed for more frequent collaboration between Best Buddies and Kindness employees. Buddies and Kindness workers gather together for hangouts at the Cafe, playing board games, sharing stories and learning more about each other. Over warm pastries and drinks, these moments of connection grow into genuine relationships, making the Café a welcoming space for meaningful interactions.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Best Buddies has been working to expand its membership at the University, introducing more activities to promote bonds between members and adults with Intellectual or Developmental Disability. The club began hangouts at the Café with a limited number of volunteers and buddies, which created an intimate setting, according to Hemp. Now garnering close to 30 participants between students and buddies, these hangouts continue to expand, with Best Buddies also hosting festive gatherings like Valentine’s Day parties and other holiday celebrations.
Ashley Hemp, president of Best Buddies and fourth-year Engineering student, hosts Best Buddies events, such as the hangouts, once a month at the Café. These gatherings allow a space for students and members of the Intellectual or Developmental Disabilities community to develop one-on-one friendships in an inclusive environment.
“I think with the new location opening, it makes it easier for Kindness Café to be accessible to all students, not just Best Buddy students, which I think emphasizes the spread of the inclusion message getting across to the community,” Hemp said.
Maddie Magielnicki, Best Buddies associate buddy and first-year College student, enjoys playing games and grabbing coffee at the Café. As she has a brother with autism, she is uniquely aware of how difficult it is to find programs that treat people with Intellectual or Developmental Disability like real people.
“In college, you kind of feel isolated from other communities,” Magielnicki said. “And I think it's a great way to just meet more people in Charlottesville and foster meaningful relationships that are clearly meaningful on both ends.”
Kishore has plans for Kindness Café’s future, primarily wanting to integrate further into the University student community through clubs and creating their ambassador program, where they hope to have students represent and promote their goals on Grounds and through social media. Inspired by Kishore’s background as a former Virginia athlete, the Café is also currently working to incorporate student-athletes in furthering their cause. No matter who they are working with, the Café hopes to further the mission of exposing students to people with Intellectual or Developmental Disabilities.
“I think treating every person with kindness, regardless of their ability, is really what matters, and not shying away from people with IDD, like introducing them into the conversation or approaching them and just telling them to have a good day like you would treat anyone,” Hemp said.
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