{"id":300858,"date":"2026-07-20T17:48:53","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T17:48:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/300858\/"},"modified":"2026-07-20T17:48:53","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T17:48:53","slug":"cospire-cafe-opens-in-bayside-championing-workplace-inclusivity-for-adults-with-disabilities-qns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/300858\/","title":{"rendered":"CoSpire Caf\u00e9 opens in Bayside, championing workplace inclusivity for adults with disabilities \u2013 QNS"},"content":{"rendered":"

CoSpire Caf\u00e9<\/a>, a Community Inclusion and Development Alliance (CIDA<\/a>) project, opened its doors in Bayside<\/a> at 36-28 Bell Blvd. on\u00a0 Saturday, June 27.<\/p>\n

CIDA is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing access to various programs and services to adults with disabilities and their families. In 2022, they created a job readiness program to provide skill-building opportunities to participants, and CoSpire Caf\u00e9 is the newest component of that program.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It is a fully licensed food service business, allowing employees to gain experience in an environment similar to other restaurants. Offerings include various kinds of coffee, fresh pastries and cookies.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>CoSpire Cafe team with some of the menu offerings. Photo by Alexandra Prettitore<\/p>\n

Previously, the same space was utilized by CIDA\u2019s job readiness program as an environment to practice retail scenarios, but this past year, they took the step to transition into a New York City restaurant, executive director of CIDA Young Seh Bae explained.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This move allows CIDA to give participants more hands-on, tangible experiences that they can transfer to the job market.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWe teach multiple skills related to jobs they can find in the community. That\u2019s how we begin,\u201d Bae said.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

At CoSpire Caf\u00e9, they aim to train a cohort of 25 students each year, providing adults with disabilities the chance to enter the job market when they are otherwise disregarded by many employers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bae explained, \u201cSome of the individuals with significant disabilities graduate high school without a diploma. That creates a lot of problems for this individual finding a job. So that\u2019s one of the core reasons that we wanted to have our own program. We know the challenges and barriers.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

CoSpire Caf\u00e9 gives participants the opportunity to grow in an inclusive, accepting space. Among the skills they learn are serving customers, cleaning and sales techniques, all of which help them to ultimately work independently.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bae clarified that the purpose of CoSpire Caf\u00e9 extends beyond the walls of the nonprofit. Instead, she hopes to create a model that can be widely adopted in order to be more inclusive of those with disabilities.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOur goal is creating an inclusive job model that other employers can use as their model. Accommodation should be clearly defined,\u201d she said.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

The internship program is six months long, and the team plans to hire some employees permanently. The rest of the participants will continue to receive career assistance and guidance from CIDA, as they will help them land a job in their preferred field and area.\u00a0<\/p>\n

CoSpire Caf\u00e9 is also home to a program for artists with disabilities called Art Beyond Limit<\/a>. This internship track began ten years ago as a way to draw attention to aspiring artists and to publicly display their work.<\/p>\n

Much of this artwork is now located in CoSpire Caf\u00e9, increasing visibility for these creatives. CIDA sponsors 12 artists each year, allowing them to explore their talents further and receive continued support.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cRather than just a one-time event and being buried under the name \u2018disability art,\u2019 our goal is to make them very competitive in the art market,\u201d Bae explained.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\u201cA Garden of Possibilities\u201d art display by Heeson Chun. Photo by Alexandra Prettitore<\/p>\n

This December, CoSpire Caf\u00e9 is set to host a fashion show at CIDA\u2019s annual gala, expanding the artists\u2019 work into a more commercial sphere.\u00a0<\/p>\n

CoSpire Caf\u00e9 plans to continue expanding their program throughout their inaugural year.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

They will soon add sandwiches and smoothies to their menu once the opening rush is settled. Additionally, there will be summer art showcases and upcoming volunteer opportunities.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As their name suggests, CoSpire Caf\u00e9 hopes to foster an environment that promotes inspiration throughout the local community.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

Bae concluded, \u201cWe really like to inspire together. Not only are we becoming an inspiration, but we like to make our entire community an inspiration. We are living in a city where everybody can inspire and help each other. That\u2019s our vision.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CoSpire Caf\u00e9, a Community Inclusion and Development Alliance (CIDA) project, opened its doors in Bayside at 36-28 Bell…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":300859,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[114168,114169,114170,9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":["post-300858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-art-beyond-limit","tag-cida","tag-cospire-cafu00e9","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/300858","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=300858"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/300858\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/300859"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=300858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=300858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=300858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}