Not only does the coffee from Special Grounds Coffee Co. get great reviews, but the coffee shop is also here for a good cause.
Special Grounds Coffee Co., which is run by Sara’s Garden, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that provides innovative educational interventions for the special needs community, including setting up the New Horizons Academy, employs students from the school who have special learning needs.
Located at 854 S. Shoop Ave., Wauseon, the shop is open Monday through Friday from 6:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturdays from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Outside of their physical location, they also have a food truck that travels throughout the community.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, New Horizons Academy would take students to local businesses for a work-study program. Once COVID-19 hit and businesses were closed, students lost the opportunity to go out and work. So Matt Rychener, the CEO and executive director of Sara’s Garden, got to work on creating a place for the students to work.
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“June of 2020 is when we started the idea. By March of 2021, we were roasting our own coffee and selling that coffee online… By September 2021, Special Grounds officially opened,” Rychener said.
Within the coffee shop, the junior high and high school students can have various jobs based on their skill sets.
“We have some kids who can work in the kitchen… We have other kids who might be involved in roasting and flavoring coffee and bagging coffee,” Rychener said. “Some kids can work in the back of house, stickering the cups, writing thank you notes on the bags and the coffee sleeves, notes of encouragement, pictures, stuff like that. There are just so many things they can do, no matter what their skill set is.”
With seasonal and common in-house roasted coffee, lemonades, teas, sandwiches, salads and pastries, Rychener said there is something for everyone. Even if you can’t make the drive to Wauseon, you can get your treats delivered to Toledo, although Rychener said they’re “worth the drive out from Toledo.”
“If somebody orders coffee online and they live in Toledo and want to pick it up, it can be picked up at our Toledo location [at 6201 Trust Dr., Holland], so they don’t have to drive to Wauseon just to pick up their coffee,” Rychener said.
While Special Grounds only has enough job openings for New Horizon students, they work with other schools and organizations in hosting fundraisers.
“Most people are tired of buying candies and stuff like that, so we do coffee fundraisers with schools where their kids will sell bags of coffee. They get a sheet, just like you would if you were doing one of those fundraiser programs, with all the different coffees that are available. Kids go out in the community with their families and sell coffee, and then the schools place a large order where they get a big discount, and then that’s a way for them to do fundraisers,” Rychener said.
During the week, Rychener said around 30 to 40 students are given the opportunity to work at Special Grounds. Rychener thinks it’s important to give these students an opportunity to work, because they are “capable of so much more than a lot of people give them credit for.”
“They are amazing hard workers. They have just the best attitudes. They’re thrilled to be there, and they can do so much more than what a lot of people give them credit for just by looking at them walking down the street,” Rychener said.
For more information on Special Grounds, go to specialgrounds.org.
