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Grand opening soon: Spencer's Place employs people with cognitive, learning disabilities

Posted 2/9/20

The wait was longer than expected, but Karin York and Spencer Nickell are now in business with Spencer’s Place.

The coffee and bistro shop in Surprise employs individuals with cognitive and …

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Grand opening soon: Spencer's Place employs people with cognitive, learning disabilities

Posted

The wait was longer than expected, but Karin York and Spencer Nickell are now in business with Spencer’s Place.

The coffee and bistro shop in Surprise employs individuals with cognitive and intellectual disabilities, a rarity in the Valley but a concept Ms. York hopes catches on here and elsewhere.

“They’re amazing. They’re doing such a good job,” Ms. York said Thursday morning inside Spencer’s Place. “Every time we give them a new task, or we want to develop a different skill, they rise to the occasion. We’re pushing them out of their comfort zone. It’s been amazing. They’re already in a different place in our second week than in our last week.”

Spencer’s Place, 15341 W. Waddell Road, Ste B101, is in the southeast corner of Reems and Waddell roads, on the left side of the Bashas'. It got its start in 2019 when Ms. York decided to act on inspiration from an East Coast business, as well as her son Spencer Nickell, who has Down syndrome.

Recently, Ms. York was looking through her emails and found around 100 people asking if Spencer’s Place needed more help. But with 13 employees with cognitive or learning disabilities, and three to four “coach-mentors,” the staff list is full at the moment.

“And I can’t project anything right now, so having to write the emails that ‘We’re fully staffed but we would love to consider you in the future,’ that kills me every single time,” Ms. York said. “It also shows that there aren’t jobs available for individuals with disabilities. Which we already knew, but it drives it home every single day.”

Ashley Nickell is Spencer’s sister-in-law and has been a part of the process since before Spencer’s Place came to fruition.

She remembers meeting Spencer 14 years ago, a time when she really hadn’t been exposed to anyone with special needs. She had always been nervous around them because of different stories she had heard.

“But then when I met Spencer, he is the kindest, most gentle human being I have ever met,” Ms. Nickell said. “I was excited to be a part of something bigger to help people be exposed to those with special needs because, like me, I was never exposed to that. And I feel like that is where the world is lacking. If you don’t know, then it’s just automatically scary. And you’re nervous about it. But if you are exposed to it, and you understand it, then it’s not scary. It’s amazing.”

According to a 2018 report from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 61 million people in the nation have a disability that impacts major life activities. Of those, roughly 10.8% are people with a cognitive disability — serious difficulty concentrating, remembering or making decisions. And according to the National Center for Learning Disabilities, 1 in 5 children in the U.S. have learning and attention issues such as dyslexia and ADHD.

However, a 2017 report from the NCLD found that 48% of parents believed their children would grow out of their brain-based difficulties, and 33% of educators contributed learning disabilities to laziness.

That is far from the case, according to officials.

“Children with learning and attention issues are as smart as their peers and with the right support can achieve at high levels,” Mimi Corcoran, president and CEO of NCLD, stated in 2017. “But a lack of early or effective interventions leads too many kids on a downward spiral.”

Helping out in Arizona, Delaware-based The Precisionists started the Phoenix Precision Project in 2019 to help create 500 jobs for people with autism and other special abilities in Arizona over the next three to five years. The group’s goal is 1,000 by 2025.

Back at Spencer’s Place, Ms. York said she has felt the support of the city and residents ever since her idea kicked into high gear in February 2019. She was anticipating opening that summer, but construction and financial issues kept the team from dishing out coffee until this year.

The coffee shop has received multiple media mentions since last February’s Daily Independent article, with spots on Fox 10 Phoenix, Arizona’s Family and AZ Big Media.

Spencer’s Place had been selling shirts and other knick-knacks as they continued to raise funds. Ms. York wants to eventually allow people to sponsor employees’ salaries as part of their nonprofit, paving the way for Ms. York to hire more people as needed.

While not as trained with those with special needs as Ms. York, Ms. Nickell said her mother-in-law has helped her understand some of the employees’ disabilities and weaknesses. That then lets her assign the employees certain tasks so they don’t get anxious.

For example, Ms. Nickell said they have an employee who gets anxious around anybody. At times, he might hang out by the doorway to the washing area, shying away from the ordering counter. So instead, if dishes were to start piling up, they would have the employee go to the washing room. Or if they need items stamped, they’ll send him to the conference room.

Then there is the opposite, the employees who want to be involved in everything. For them, they tend to the register and other more sociable tasks.

“It’s been really cool to create jobs to cater to what they need,” Ms. Nickell said. “I’ve enjoyed it so much to be able to help them with that and to make them feel like they have a purpose. I feel like that’s the biggest thing. They want to be like us. Not that they’re any different than us. But the world has deemed them different. And they just want a purpose.”

Spencer’s Place has been under a soft opening since late January, with hours 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday through Saturday. A grand opening is set for 8 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 22. Hours will eventually expand to 6 a.m.-6 p.m.

Editor's Note: Updates article to reflect grand opening date.