Visit This Wakefield Slush Pop-Up, Help Individuals with Disabilities

INspire Cafe has opened a Wakefield slush pop-up to refresh the community and create opportunities for individuals with disabilities.   A bit of backstory, for starters. Bitty & Beau's opened a coffee shop location on Main St. in Melrose back in 2021. The radically inclusive chain has made headlines for their practice of staffing their shops with people with disabilities. It's a win-win for the communities they operate in: residents get a good cup of coffee, and people with disabilities get valuable work experience. That second part is so important: unemployment numbers for workers with disabilities are staggering.   Sadly, the Bitty & Beau's Melrose location closed back in March of 2023. An announcement from the company shared in this report from WCVB reads: "We are grateful for the hard work and dedication the employees in Melrose have demonstrated over the past year and a half and hope that our mission has inspired other businesses to consider hiring individuals with disabilities."   It certainly did.   Visit This Wakefield Slush Pop-Up, Help Individuals with Disabilities Here comes INspire Cafe, which is a program of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Stoneham & Wakefield. "INspire Cafe is a workforce development program that provides meaningful employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities." You see where this is going, right?   As the Boys & Girls Club of Stoneham & Wakefield shared on this press release: "This temporary establishment will provide a unique platform for employees to showcase their abilities, engage with the community, and gain valuable customer service experience."   Full disclosure: my oldest works for BGC Wakefield, so we see firsthand on the regular the good that the organization is able to do in the community. The Pop-Up is just the latest example of that. We paid a visit a few weeks ago and were served refreshing slushes with a smile. You should visit, too. You'll find the Pop-Up on Main St. across from the Galvin Middle School. Hours are listed below.   Monday: Closed Tuesday: 12pm-8pm Wednesday: 12pm-8pm Thursday: 12pm-8pm Friday: 12pm-8pm Saturday: 11am-5pm Sunday: Closed