Cafe Brews Up Opportunities For Neurodivergent Employees

ELLICOTT CITY, MD — What started as one woman's passion for perfectly brewed coffee beans has grown exponentially into a neighborhood cafe dedicated to bringing people together.

Alarice “Al” Vidale de Palacios created Al's Love Cafe as a neurodiverse space that provides training and employment for individuals in the community. It's also a welcoming space for customers who are neurodivergent.

Al's Love Cafe officially opened Feb. 12 in the former Matcha Time Cafe in Old Ellicott City after two years of securing funding and making renovations to the space.

“I wanted to create opportunities where you got some self-worth and dignity, and you’re working in an environment where people are happy to see you,” Vidale de Palacios told The Baltimore Sun. “And so far, that’s been exactly what it is.”

Inspired by her own personal path, Vidale de Palacios has four adult sons who have varying neurodiversity, she said. She became a broker for the Developmental Disabilities Administration after working so closely with the agency to obtain services for one of her sons, she told The Sun.

Vidale de Palacios created the Center for the Advancement of the Specially Enabled, or C.A.S.E., to offer support and resources to adults with special needs. She also hires her own employees through CASE.

One of her sons, Jose Moreno, also works at the cafe, which is open seven days a week. He told WMAR that before joining the team at Al's Love Cafe, it was a struggle at times to find employment.

"I would get the interview but I wouldn’t get the job and that has been a bumpy ride," he said. "Or working and then finding out I could no longer work at a different location. Having this place is a great opportunity."

Rene Palacios, Jr., is a co-director at C.A.S.E. and also works with the employees at the cafe.

"I encourage them to go out, have fun, speak to people, gain confidence in case they want to go on past this," he told WMAR.

Not only is each beverage served with a smile, but they're made with carefully sourced premium beans from trusted farms then roasted to highlight their natural flavor and aroma. There's also fresh pastries baked daily, as well as meals made from scratch, including soups and sandwiches.

Breakfast is served all day and menu items include drip coffee, bagels and cream cheese, espressos, grilled cheese, breakfast sandwiches, grilled cheese with meat, waffles, pancakes, smoothies, home fries, fruit cups and more. One of their best sellers is the country steak egg and cheese bagel with all the fixings including a side of seasoned Yukon golds.

“This is not a gimmick. This is something that’s very serious. This is about people existing and being and having a sense of worth and that they’re contributing, because they automatically don’t know their worth,” Vidale de Palacios said. “So, we’re building that space in them that says you matter.”