Cafes working towards disability equality
Stereotyping, stigma, and discrimination are challenges people with disability face every day. The biggest barrier for people with disabilities is how society disables them. Disability exclusion has stemmed from the belief that having a disability makes you ‘less than.’
Disability activist Bianca Stern is the General Manager at All Things Equal, a cafe that provides purposeful employment for people with and without disability in a ‘mainstream’ work environment. Jessica Colgan is CEO and Co-Founder at Gingersnap Patisserie a social enterprise celebrating the limitless potential of people with disability, and creating meaningful employment for people with disability. We hear from Bianca and Jessica about why it is important to have equal employment opportunities for all types of people.
Image courtesy of All Things Equal. Bianca is in the middle with two All Things Equal employees.
Bianca can you please introduce yourself and explain why you are passionate about providing those with disabilities the opportunity to be seen as Equal?
Image courtesy of All Things Equal.
I’m Bianca, I’m 26 years old and I have a deep commitment for providing people with disability the same opportunities everyone deserves to have in their life. As anyone, people with disability have their own strengths and weaknesses, their own personalities, interests, and fears. Too often in society, able bodied people underestimate the ability of people with disability. Little do they realize, with the incredible work ethic of people with disability, they may soon be out of a job.
Since All Things Equal began, can you tell us about some of the impact that you have seen since the cafe has progressed over the years?
Since our inception, we have provided over 5,500 hours of award-wage employment for people with disability in our workplaces. We have seen many of our staff (my colleagues) grow in their confidence, their time-management, teamwork, and resilience. Most importantly, they have a greater connection to their local community and subsequently, our community see our staff as capable contributors to the workforce.
We see incredible impact on the lives of those with and without disability at All Things Equal everyday. We’ve supported 25 people with disability to gain paid employment, have supported for to access further employment and a daily increase in self-worth.
The two-year anniversary is coming up for All Things Equal. What were some of your key achievements for the year and how do you feel now coming this far in just a small period of time?
We’re so excited about our growth in a very short amount of time. Our key achievements include opening a second café, launching a cooking school, opening our first canteen in collaboration with a local footy club and hiring our first CEO, Jessica Colgan! I feel incredibly excited and energised about where we’re at as a non-profit social enterprise. I can’t wait to see how much we can achieve in another two years!
There are (thankfully) other cafes in the space on a similar mission (i.e: Ginger Snap Patisserie) It seems to be a progressive space which is a positive thing! How does this provide you hope for the future in the work that you do and for the future of the disabled community?
We have over 50 people on our waitlist who are incredibly eager for their first foot in the door. We simply can’t meet the demand at the moment. To know there are other organisations like Gingersnap Patisserie on a similar mission to us is just awesome. It gives me goosebumps knowing that through collaboration, we all have the ability to impact the lives of those with disability for the better. Our CEO, Jessica Colgan, is also Co-Founder of Ginger Snap Patisserie!
Image courtesy of Ginger Snap Patisserie.
How interesting! Hi Jessica, can you tell us how Ginger Snap Patisserie began?
My brother Brett was born profoundly deaf. At the age of two, he was the youngest person ever to receive the cochlear implant. Whilst this technology was and is groundbreaking, it wasn’t an overnight success. At the age of five, starting school, Brett had only two words - No and Mum. But that didn't stop him.
Fast forward 25 years, Brett's vocabulary is vast and his employer saw a spark in me that made them ask… what do you want to be?
The answer was a pastry chef.
It was his employer's disability focused employment program, together with the confidence they instilled in him, and our deep frustration with the treatment and discrimination of PWD that made us think, it’s time for us to make a difference.
Mottos like “Nothing about us without us” and “ You can’t be what you can’t see” encapsulate our purpose - to bring a person with lived experience to be the leader/founder of an organisation and work collaboratively with the sector to solve these great challenges.
Image courtesy of Ginger Snap Patisserie.
Since Ginger Snap began, may you please share with us some impacts you’ve witnessed in-house and externally regarding inclusivity and de-stigmatising disability?
We've been blown away by the support our community has given to our work. From winning a grant through an Australia wide public vote from Canon Australia this year, through to Brett being asked to speak at an event with Westpac about Ginger Snap and his journey on being a deaf man through employment and entrepreneurship. Unfortunately, the waitlists for meaningful and inclusive employment programs are extremely long, and given our short time into this journey, we haven't yet seen the meaningful change we need to see in employment statistics.
What is your advice to people looking to launch a business in this space?
Collaboration is key in this sector, and the way to building long term impact and systemic change. As I am also the CEO of All Things Equal, an organisation I met through the development of Ginger Snap, and we are looking at ways to collaborate to solidify our impact. For example, this is through providing transition pathways from All Things Equal into Ginger Snap's commercial kitchen, in cases where particular individuals find that patisserie is a strong interest and passion. If you want to open an organisation in the social enterprise space, first look at what other organisations are doing, have many conversations, and find out how you can build on the existing impact, or find gaps that your specific skill set can fill.
To date, what are you most proud of?
The courage and tenacity of my brother. To step out of his comfort zone, recognise his skills and capabilities, and want to use those superpowers to create similar opportunities for more people in the disability community.
“With almost 2.2 million people with disability in Australia unemployed, let’s hope that together we can change the statistic.”
Photo by Brand Eliza Photography for All Things Equal.
Bianca, Can you please explain the disadvantages that people with disabilities face and how All Things Equal breaks down these barriers?
It can be much harder for people with disability to gain genuine paid employment opportunities due to the additional needs they may have. It is often the case that businesses may lack resources or education to ensure a person with disability is set up for success in their job. For example, if a person with disability requires additional training, breaks or safety equipment, a small business may not have the capacity to support this. At All Things Equal, we celebrate people just as they are. We put accommodations in place to ensure every person in our workplace is set up for success. We provide additional 1:1 training, have visual resources in place and work on educating our customers so they understand that all our staff are trying their absolute best, always. In my opinion, the biggest disadvantage that people with disability face is that society doesn’t create an environment that’s accessible.
So, how do we change our lens on disability? There are two models that view disability in vastly different ways: social and medical. What is your take in shifting the narrative in these two areas?
We need to make sure that people with disability are provided the opportunity to have the same values roles as anyone in society. We need to start looking at the social model of disability whereby inclusion can’t be an afterthought. We need to have people with disability at the forefront of decision making, planning and implementing, everywhere. We must understand that able bodies are the biggest barrier towards to the participation of people with disability. It’s on every person to do something about it.
Image courtesy of Ginger Snap Patisserie.
The medical model of disability still is important, but if we’re talking about removing stigma and encouraging inclusion, let’s look at what people with disability can do. Let’s change the way we view disability.
As we go into the holiday season, how can society support those with disabilities who may not have access to resources like All Things Equal during this time of year?
Consider what accommodations or support you may require during the holiday season and perhaps someone with disability may have the same. Smaller crowds or being in familiar places may be the answer or it may be as simple as inviting someone to a New Years Eve party!
Have conversations and ask questions. The first step to doing better and supporting people with disability is to just begin.
Where would you both like to see these cafes in the next five years?
Bianca: That’s the million dollar question! I’d love to see every person on our waitlist find award-wage employment whatever that may look like.
Jessica: We will be a large scale catering and media business, that provides fresh high tea and bakery style desserts to venues and stadiums throughout Australia, together with a packaged supermarket line (think plant based cake mixes and breads). We will share the stories of people with disability across multiple media channels, and support thousands of individuals into meaningful careers or to build their own businesses, just like Brett is doing.
“Just because you’re young doesn’t mean you can’t have an impact. Stand up when you want to see change. Chances are, someone else is wishing they had the confidence to do it! ”
“There are thousands of social enterprises in existence right now, serving communities in likely all of the areas you passionately care about. Buy from them, support them through social media, and think about your specific skillset and how this could contribute to strengthening the sector. ”
INTERVIEW: SARAH RAMANTANIS
PHOTOGRAPHY: ALL THINGS EQUAL, BRAND ELIZA PHOTOGRAPHY, GINGER SNAP PATISSERIE
PHOTOGRAPHY: ALL THINGS EQUAL, BRAND ELIZA PHOTOGRAPHY, GINGER SNAP PATISSERIE
