Since founding the Civitas Living service agency in San Diego in 2020, Michael Cross said one of the biggest hurdles he faces is getting employers to take a chance on hiring his vocational ed clients, who are adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.<\/p>\n
But once employers do take the leap, Cross said, they don\u2019t look back. He has stacks of letters from company owners praising these employees\u2019 work ethic and describing the change in their workplace experience as \u201clife-changing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now, Cross is part of a four-member team with a dream project they hope will further lower the barriers for workers with special needs. If it\u2019s successful, they plan to replicate it in other cities.<\/p>\n
This fall, they will open Serafino, an all-day coffeehouse, Mexican-Italian caf\u00e9\/market and wine bar in Mission Hills. It will join many other restaurants around the county that hire workers with disabilities. But Cross said Serafino will be different in that it will be a luxury, elevated space where every worker must meet the same high expectations.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt should be as natural as any other employment situation,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re not trying to hit a quota. We\u2019re just trying to employ the best person for the job. And we\u2019re trying to make sure that if someone does have a label or needs help outside of work, they\u2019re not overlooked. It\u2019s about giving people a chance.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/sut-l-serafino-restaurant-02.jpg\")
The four partners behind Serafino, an all-day cafe and wine bar opening next fall in Mission Hills, from left, chief operating officer Michael di Carlo, project and general manager Amanda Sarich and co-founders David Cross and Rebeca Cross. (John Dole)<\/p>\n
All four members of the Serafino founding team have deep roots in special education and hospitality.<\/p>\n
Cross has worked for over a decade in the field of supportive living and health care services, education and hospitality. Rebeca Cross, his wife and Serafino co-founder, is a longtime high school special education teacher in San Diego.<\/p>\n
Serving as Serafino\u2019s chief operating officer is Michael di Carlo. He is the executive director of Civitas Living, and before that, spent eight years in management at the We Olive & Wine Bar in La Jolla. He and David Cross have been close friends since grade school in their native Massachusetts.<\/p>\n
Their fourth team member, who will serve as project manager and general manager at Serafino, is Amanda Sarich, who has more than a decade of leadership in wine-focused businesses, including serving as corporate wine director at We Olive, as well as Bernardus Winery and Loews Coronado Bay Resort. Before entering the wine business, Sarich studied special education in college and trained in American Sign Language.<\/p>\n