A new Frisco coffee shop is changing lives in the surrounding community. Bitty & Beau’s Coffee, which opened its Frisco location in April, is providing job opportunities to people with Down syndrome and other physical and intellectual disabilities.
Bitty & Beau’s Coffee began as an idea by Amy Wright, who is the mother of four children — one of whom is autistic and two of them, the shop’s namesakes, with Down syndrome. According to Amy’s husband Ben, in the fall 2015, as she was taking a shower. “She says her best ideas come to her in the shower,” says Ben. “And she’s had some great ones.”
Upon learning that 80% of people with disabilities are unemployed, Amy wanted to create a space where people with disabilities could learn skills, form community and interact with the world around them. “The world feels kind of closed to people with disabilities, and treats them mostly through the lens of charity and pity,” says Ben. “And we just did not want that for our children. So we thought, ‘Gosh, maybe the best way to approach this is through a business lens, creating something with the ability to innovate.
From One Idea to a Nationwide Movement
By 2016, Bitty & Beau’s opened its first location in Wilmington, North Carolina, hiring 19 people with disabilities. The Frisco location marks Bitty & Beau’s first North Texas shop, and its 19th overall. To date, Bitty & Beau’s employs over 450 people…