The Importance of Inclusion
By: Autumn Boaz
“Slow down and be a little more thoughtful.”
Katie Kishore, founder of Kindness Cafe + Play.
“Slow down and be a little more thoughtful,” says Katie Kishore, the founder and owner of the Kindness Cafe, “think through how your actions impact more than just you.” A former double athlete for the University of Virginia and mother of two daughters, Mira and Kiran, Kishore wholeheartedly believes in the power of spreading kindness.
This value lays the foundation for the Kindness Cafe, a mission-driven coffee shop employing adults with cognitive disabilities, located at the Brooks Family YMCA in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Six years before the official launch of the Kindness Cafe in 2020, Kishore experienced the loss of her husband two weeks after the birth of her second daughter, Kiran, who was born with Down Syndrome. Through this time of excitement with her newborn daughter and grief at the loss of her husband, Kishore was met with a community of love and support and believed that the world was looking out for the three of them—this experience of unconditional kindness set Kishore on a trajectory towards providing others with the same compassion.
Fast forward to 2017, Kishore and her daughters visited Bitty and Beau’s coffee shop, which employs individuals with intellectual disabilities, in Wilmington, North Carolina. Kishore fell in love with the concept of a cafe becoming a place of kindness and representation. She knew Charlottesville needed a place with the same mission and began crafting the Kindness Cafe. In 2019, she presented her proposal at the local Tom Tom festival and was met with extraordinary support from locals. One year later, the Kindness Cafe and Play officially opened.
Today, Kishore is grateful for all of the support they have received from the local community and the ability to provide people with intellectual disabilities the opportunity for meaningful employment. The Kindness Cafe and Play operates to give employees with intellectual disabilities a daily schedule, purpose, sense of belonging, and connections to community members. In addition to having more structure in their lives, these employees serve as role models in the Charlottesville community for young people with intellectual disabilities, including Kishore’s youngest daughter, Kiran.
Katie with Crosby, one of the first Kindness Cafe employees.
With this increase in representation of and interaction with people with intellectual disabilities comes greater inclusion. The Kindness Cafe reminds people in the Charlottesville community that people with disabilities are meaningful members of society and generates a greater awareness of disability inclusion issues. Additionally, the Kindness Cafe combats the stigma surrounding people with disabilities by providing a place that connects people with differing experiences, allowing for increased empathy and kindness towards people with different identities.
Kishore credits her two daughters as her biggest motivators for continuing to work towards spreading kindness in Charlottesville. For her daughter, Kiran, the Kindness Cafe allows her to see other people with Down Syndrome working in a positive environment and succeeding. Mira, Kishore’s typical developing daughter, gets to experience a setting that places the same value on people with and without disabilities. Kishore believes that having a place like the Kindness Cafe broadens people’s perspectives on the world and wants her daughters to see what is possible when everyone is received with love, compassion, and value.
Since opening and running the Kindness Cafe, Kishore says it is a constant reminder to lead through kindness and create relationships with people different from you. Even though she has grown to prioritize these values, Kishore knows there is still a lot to work on. When asked about ways to make the world a kinder place, she shared that when you can nurture a relationship and dive into a conversation with someone different from you, there is a fundamental shift in how you approach inclusivity and kindness. Kishore advises that everyone learn about individuals with different life experiences and cultures. This can be as simple as being more purposeful in the movies you decide to watch because they can serve as a starting point for learning about other perspectives. Finally, Kishore reminds us that “seeing the world through other lenses changes how we treat others and ourselves.”
Katie standing with Crosby, Taylor, and Amanda.
If you want to experience the kindness of Katie Kishore and her fellow employees, please visit the Kindness Cafe and Play at 151 McIntire Pk Dr., Charlottesville, VA. They are open Monday through Friday from 8 am - 12 pm and 2:30 pm - 6:30 pm, and 8 am - 12 pm on Saturdays. For more information, please visit their website (www.kindnesscafecville.com).