What’s unique about this Gadsden restaurant?
Beautiful Rainbow Café: A Life-Changing Experience for Students with Disabilities
Nestled within the Gadsden Public Library in Alabama, Beautiful Rainbow Café serves vegetarian meals while providing invaluable work experience to students with significant cognitive disabilities. Founded by Chip Rowan, a dedicated special-education teacher, the café has become a beloved community fixture over its seven years of operation. It features a unique atmosphere that patrons, including regulars Kim Hood and Beth Kidd, describe as “a big hug with wonderful food.”
Rowan’s initiative stemmed from a disheartening lack of job opportunities for cognitively disabled individuals, with over 80% unemployed nationally among those with severe disabilities. At Beautiful Rainbow, students not only learn culinary skills but also essential soft skills, transforming them into motivated and loyal employees. The café offers a seasonal menu rooted in organically grown ingredients, and customers rave about dishes like vegan crab cakes and spinach quiche.
As Rowan prepares for retirement at the end of July, the Gadsden City Schools system has organized a team to sustain the café, which has already placed 60 students in jobs and helped two enroll in universities. Additionally, Beautiful Rainbow is expanding its impact by creating an online curriculum to teach work-based skills to students with disabilities across the South. As the café continues to grow, it stands as a testament to the profound difference such inclusive programs can make in the community and the lives of individuals with disabilities.
Read the complete article here: https://wbhm.org/2024/whats-unique-about-this-gadsden-restaurant-its-more-than-the-food/
