Jewish Family Service & Children’s Center of Clifton-Passaic (JFS)
The Impact Café: A Pop-Up Business Powered by People with Disabilities

Jewish Family Service & Children's Center hired a Job Coach and purchased a vehicle to launch The Impact Café, a gourmet coffee food truck run by people with disabilities that “pops-up” across northern New Jersey, upending preconceptions about people with disabilities, creating new jobs, and inspiring inclusive employment practices. The program goal was to create a gourmet coffee pop-up facility that would train and employ 80 to 100 people with disabilities.

Over the next two years, $60,000 in Impact100 Garden State funds enabled the purchase of a food truck, the hiring of trainers and the education of an initial cohort of trainees. However, due to a number of unforeseen circumstances, JFS has been unable to reach its goal for training. Going forward, JFS will be partnering with a for-profit entity in its work with the food truck.

Therefore, the Impact100 Garden State grant period has concluded, with $40,000 remaining. These funds will go to support an area nonprofit in a manner yet to be decided.

Impact100 Garden State salutes JFS for its essential work of serving the community, and we will be cheering its journey forward. We are proud of the role our organization has been able to play in furthering this work.

Any Impact member who has questions may contact Grant Administration Chair Barb Demarest at GrantAdmin@impact100gardenstate.org.