last too long for us. After
we got through grieving
the son we thought we
were going to have and
embraced the son we
were given, it was just
a wonderful, freeing
light-bulb moment
that really changed us
as people.”
Just as the Wrights
felt as though they were
“learning the ropes” as
parents of a child with
a disability, they became
pregnant again and welcomed
a daughter who also had Down
syndrome. Bitty’s given name is
Jane but, Wright says, earned
her nickname “because she’s
always been itty-bitty.”
“When Bitty was born it
was like a Mack Truck hit
us,” Wright says, explain-
ing that she and her husband
came to think “this was bigger
than making sure the world was good
and welcoming for Beau and Bitty. We’ve
been trusted with a job here. We need to
find the best platform we can to advo-
cate for people with Down syndrome
and other intellectual disabilities. That’s
when the soul searching started. We tried
a lot of different things: benefit concerts,
walks, blogging, a variety of things in
our community.”
The idea to open Bitty & Beau’s Coffee
“hit me like a lightning bolt,” she says.

Just like their whirlwind romance-engage-
ment-marriage two decades before, just a
few months passed between the idea and
its fruition. Wright’s idea came to her in
November 2015, and they opened their
first shop in January 2016.

“It was a real risk for us,” Wright says.

“We didn’t know anything about cof-
fee shops. We were creative people, but
we just educated ourselves on every
aspect of it.”
The whole family got involved, “whether
it was painting the walls or putting fur-
niture together or marketing,” she says.

For its first six months, the coffee shop
operated out of a 500-square-foot spot.

The risk paid off: “We had a line out the
door from day one. It was originally called
Beau’s Coffee. We hadn’t even given too
much thought to naming it. Beau was with
me and I said, ‘This may be someplace you
want to work someday, Beau.’”
When they moved into a 5,000-square-
foot former Hummer dealership, Beau
requested the shop be renamed to include
his sister.

It’s been “a whirlwind” three years for
Bitty & Beau’s Coffee, says Wright, and
the support they’ve received for their
shop in Annapolis has been “overwhelm-
ing. We felt welcomed in Charleston and
Savannah, but this was unlike anything we
had so far.”
Hundreds of people have reached out to
say they want jobs, she adds. They plan on
having a hiring fair and spending a week-
end interviewing candidates. There’s no
requirement for employment at Bitty &
Beau’s Coffee other than a “willingness to
learn, a great attitude and a willingness to
be part of the team,” Wright says.

Bitty & Beau’s Coffee’s mission is,
in part, a response to what she calls an
“unemployment epidemic that faces peo-
ple with disabilities.” According to the
Bureau of Labor Statistics, 80 percent
of people with disabilities are not in the
workforce. Kids with disabilities “get all
this support through school, and all these
teachers are invested in making sure kids
are prepared for the workforce, and then
there are no jobs,” Wright says.

But she advises parents of kids with
disabilities to stay optimistic about their
child’s future. “Parents of children with
special needs are really good at advocating
for their children to find their place in the
world,” she says. With that momentum,
“good things can happen.”
And spend a couple minutes in the cof-
fee shop to see what’s possible, she says.

“Not just for individuals to work in coffee
shops. That’s not the point. They can be
in any place of work, shoulder to shoulder
with typically developing people.”
“I do feel a shift in our country,” she
adds. “I feel like people are beginning to
see value in these individuals. I think the
coffee shop has shown our country what
is possible for people with disabilities.” ■
Katie, a coffee
shop employee,
is ready to
take orders.

Staff gathers for a pre-opening pep talk.

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