Our Story

After years of working in workforce development with individuals with disabilities, our team has heard many questions—but one has always stood out: “What’s out there for us?”

It’s a powerful question. And it wasn’t just about services or support—it was about identity. What we heard, time and again, from parents and participants was that they felt unseen and misunderstood in the very systems meant to support them. We heard this question for years. And for years, we searched for a space that offered the answer. Eventually, we came to a difficult truth: that space didn’t exist. So, we stopped searching—and started building. We committed to becoming the answer ourselves.

The Connect Café is more than a resource. It’s personal. It’s intentional. And it’s long overdue.

Our Purpose

The Connect Café was created to support and address the needs of youth and families with overlapping barriers of race and disability, experiencing the critical gaps in education, workforce, and community. We aim to address inequities faced by individuals who are often overlooked- particularly those experiencing the overlapping impact of racial injustice and disabling barriers. We support youth whose unique ways of experiencing the world may not align with conventional expectations-those who too often feel like they don’t belong.

Offering a menu of service, that focus on three key pillars, connection, community, contribution, we offer services for the individual and their families.

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