'I like working': Compassion Café on LBI offers jobs, meaning for people with disabilities

BEACH HAVEN - Grace Weidenhof was calling out directions in the kitchen, measuring water and flour, scooping out peanut butter.

“We’re making dog treats right now,” she said. “We have an amazing dog bakery line.”

The Stafford resident is one of 80 employees of Compassion Café, a summer-season café on Long Beach Island whose staff is composed entirely of people with developmental disabilities. This is summer No. 3 for the nonprofit initiative, which will operate coffee shop-style out of The Sea Shell Resort in Beach Haven four mornings per week from May 16 to mid-September.

“This is the most wonderful job I’ve ever had,” said Weidenhof, who is entering her third season on staff. “It’s good experience for everyone who has special needs.”

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Compassion Café was founded in 2021 by retired Southern Regional High School teacher Sue Sharkey and her niece Erin Sharkey, a behavior analyst who works with the special-needs community. They realized how few job opportunities exist for adults and teens with autism and Down syndrome. Compassion Café pays its staffers $14.50 an hour.

“There’s a difference between going to a program and having a job — and feeling that purpose and value to it,” Sue Sharkey said. “This is a confidence-builder.”

'The best opportunity'

Last week, during a training session at Long Beach Island's First United Methodist Church, that spirit was evident as staffers made the dog treats that have become a menu staple and learned — or relearned — the ropes about customer service, manning a coffee station and working a cash register.

“It’s the best opportunity,” said Donna Paszkewicz, an Upper Freehold resident whose 23-year-old son Kenny is entering his third year on staff (the family summers in Holgate). “He’s learned so much, he’s made friends, he’s matured more. He’s happy, we’re happy.”

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Another third-year employee who spends summers on LBI, Kayla Barry, parlayed her Compassion Café experience into a wintertime job working the register and stocking shelves at a CVS in her hometown in upstate New York.

“Compassion Cafe really helped me to get the skills I needed to do it,” Barry said.

For Jenny Ferrara, a 31-year-old employee from Barnegat, Compassion Cafe interactions have improved the clarity of her speech.

“Jenny has had jobs, but nothing like this,” said her mother, Mary Ellen Ferrara. “We like to bake, so this is something she was interested in. She is very social, and this gives her an opportunity to get out and meet people and speak.”

Jenny put a fine point on it.

“I like working,” she said. “I like to help other people.”

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Growing in popularity

The proof is in the retention rates. Last summer there were 60 employees, and 56 of them are back for 2023. With newcomers in the fold, this year’s staff is around 80 people, plus nearly a hundred volunteers who help keep the wheels turning.

“We hire everybody who wants a job,” Sue Sharkey said.

There are some caveats. Staffers must be 17 or older, must sign up in time to train before the summer rush begins in late June, and must commit to working a minimum of 12 days. The café is open Mondays through Thursdays from 7 to 11 a.m.

“We’re very flexible with scheduling,” Sharkey said.

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The menu consists of a variety of drinks (coffee, tea, cold brew, apple juice and bottled water) and breakfast foods (bagels, muffins, pastries, quiche, carrot cake, yogurt and fruit) as well as two varieties of dog treats. There’s also Compassion Café merchandise for sale and a weekly newsletter that highlights various employees so patrons can get a sense for who they are.

The dog treats are made by staffers; everything else is sourced locally, mostly at wholesale prices. Last summer, Sharkey said, the café chalked up $100,000 in sales. It didn’t turn a profit, but that’s not the point.

“The reason we’re able to do this is because the community has supported us through donations,” Sharkey said.

As a thank-you gesture, 17 employees performed a cabaret-style show at the Stafford Township Arts Center earlier this month.

“It was kind of dual-purpose event,” Sharkey said. “It let the staff showcase their talents and also gave something cute and sweet back to the community.”

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It takes a village

A huge factor behind Compassion Café’s success is the space. First United Methodist Church offers the use of its commercial kitchen and hall for prep and training purposes. In 2021, the café operated out of Barry’s Do Me a Flavor restaurant in Beach Haven. Sharkey’s idea is to move the locale each summer, but 2022 at The Sea Shell was such a success that resort owner Tom Hughes insisted they return in 2023.

“It was so well-received by everybody and the space works so well for them, and our guests just loved it,” Hughes said.

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Last summer, every morning when he arrived at the resort, Hughes stopped in the café for a coffee.

“The next thing I know, I would get a big bear hug or a high-five from one of the kids,” he said. “Even if you’re having a rough start to the day, it makes you feel like a million bucks.”

Compassion Café is open 7-11 a.m. Mondays through Thursdays from May 16 to mid-September at The Sea Shell Resort & Beach Club in Beach Haven. For more information or to donate, visit www.compassioncafelbi.org.

Jerry Carino is community columnist for the Asbury Park Press, focusing on the Jersey Shore’s interesting people, inspiring stories and pressing issues. Contact him at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Compassion Cafe on LBI offers work to developmentally disabled people