After Jen DiCarlo toured the historic Princess Theatre in downtown Decatur — after hearing about its storied history, about the Grammy Award winners who performed on its stage and its
At Charlie Foster’s coffee shop, ‘nobody is going to judge us’
Updated 6:51 AM;
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They make a great team.
Bailey loves music and dance. Laura Beth’s a figure skater. She even represented Team USA in the Special Olympics in Austria. Nick loves classical music, literature, and all things Disney.
Trevor likes to play golf. Corey loves martial arts. Connor likes roller coasters and making people laugh. Anna loves painting, dancing, and yoga. And she loves her job.
Her job is to greet people at Charlie Foster’s, a coffee shop with a difference. Though most of the workers there are disabled in some way, they’re just part of a team that serves coffee, tea, light lunches, cookies, and a popular drink called Strawberry Lemonade. According to the workers, it’s all good, even washing dishes and wiping down tables.
Inside the new Charlie Foster’s coffee shop in Huntsville, Alabama. Photo by Rocket City Digital, courtesy of Charlie Foster’s.
A cheery coffee shop in West Huntsville, Alabama, called Charlie Foster’s is serving as an inspirational counter its location’s exploitative industrial past. Bursting with pinks, reds and cream colors, the shop is serving well-crafted coffee drinks, while providing training and employment for people with special needs.
Roughly half of the 18-person staff at Charlie Foster’s is composed of people of special needs, a model Charlie Foster’s Co-Owner Austin Jenkins pursued in keeping with the spirit of the Merrimack Hall Performing Arts Center, the arts education nonprofit founded by his parents Alan and Debra Jenkins.