Essex County Students Find Warm Welcome At Ethan & The Bean

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — Teens and young adults from Essex County are finding a place to grab a warm drink and an even warmer conversation at Ethan & the Bean.

Recently, the North Jersey coffeehouse – which hires people with intellectual or developmental delays – has become an eagerly anticipated destination of students at Spectrum360 Upper School in Livingston.

Last month, Upper School students, who range from 15 to 21-years-old, made their second visit to the Little Falls coffeeshop, which is powered by the West Caldwell-based nonprofit of the same name.

• See related article: West Caldwell Nonprofit Employs People With Disabilities At Coffeehouse

The students got a chance to get out in the community and practice independent living skills, Spectrum360 wrote in a recent blog post. They also get the chance to avail themselves of a partnership with Caldwell University’s Department of Applied Behavior Analysis, which has helped to develop the shop’s unique training programs.

As Spectrum 360 explains:

“There are many lessons underlying what most would consider a quick coffee stop. Students are practicing social skills – interacting with each other and store employees and how to conduct themselves. There’s learning how to approach the register, make an order, speak to the cashier. They’re also applying mathematical skills – counting money, paying for their items, checking their change. These lessons are reviewed in the classroom daily, and prior to leaving on their trip, and now comes the challenge – and excitement! – of going out into the world and living them.”

Upper School students also got a chance to mingle with employees like Mike, a graduate of the original pilot program at Ethan & the Bean. The enthusiastic employee takes orders, runs the register and serves drinks, but he says the best part of his day is chatting with customers.

• See related article: Unique Special Needs Center In Livingston Gets Own Supermarket

Mike, along with the shop’s namesake, 20-year-old Ethan, are the main reasons why the coffeeshop exists in the first place, says Ethan’s mother, Pamela Donovan.

Finding employment for people like Ethan, who has autism and epilepsy and is non-vocal, isn’t an easy task, Donovan says. So she decided to take matters into her own hands.

Since opening the Little Falls café in October 2019, it’s become a bright spot in the neighborhood. But more importantly, it’s stayed true to its original mission:

“Our goals are simple and from the heart. We want to train and employ a significant number of persons with intellectual or developmental delays, become a treasured asset within the community, and change the way people see those special souls challenged by disabilities. We value and respect all who train with us and all who walk through our doors.”

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