TEMPLE TERRACE, Fla. — Many people who visit the Family Recreation Complex in Temple Terrace are there to pump up some muscles, but each weekday another group arrives that’s pumped up to serve.
“There you go, have a good day!” said 19-year-old Nicholas Alston, while handing a receipt to a customer.
Alston and other students from a nearby school-run Focus Café. It’s a place to find snacks of all sorts and service with a smile.
Focus Café workers are from Focus Academy. The public charter school serves students with developmental disabilities.
However, for students completing the 12th grade, there was a need for something more. That’s where Focus Café comes in as a transition program from school to possible jobs.
A job coach works alongside the students to provide support.
“This is a great stepping stone for our students to get a taste of what it’s like to work in a real environment,” said Clayton Clemens from Project Focus, a not-for-profit that supports the school.
The café’s a win-win-win—for the students, their customers and the city.
“You can get French Toast sticks, churros, hot coffee—things that normally aren’t available out of a vending machine,” said Karl Langefeld of Temple Terrace Leisure Services. “Plus, it’s also a community service. A lot of people coming to the facility realize that by buying something from the café, they’re doing something more than just getting a snack.”
Alston’s favorite job is running the cash register.
“Because I count coins and dollars every time and I’m very, very good with math,” he said.
Pool patrons like Cheryl Edwardson appreciate both the café’s goodies and its employees.
“It gives them a good feeling inside themselves that they can be productive,” Edwardson said.
Focus Café has grown into a place for students to learn while serving up some tasty treats and for customers a chance to focus on treating others well.
“The goal of our community-based training sites is to kind of break that barrier and the stigma that might come with having a disability,” Clements said.
10 Tampa Bay is happy to support the work of Focus Café with a $2,000 grant from our parent company TEGNA’s Foundation.