Perfect Blend Coffee Company uses coffee as springboard to empower those with disabilities

Navarre speech pathologist Kalli Clement opened Perfect Blend Coffee as a place to combine her love for empowering people with different abilities with her husband's post-military retirement dreams of opening a coffee shop.

"What if we combined our two passions?" Clement remembers asking her husband, Chris, last year.

When she brought the idea to her employer, Across the Board Therapy, the organization decided to rent space next door in the Harvest Village commercial complex for Clement to use as a coffee shop. She then transformed the space into a training ground to provide job skills to people with disabilities, starting with only two employees.

In the past year, Perfect Blend has been able to employ 13 people, and it expanded this past month to a second location in a coffee trailer stationed outside of St. Michael's Brewing Company in Navarre. Clement said she hopes the mobile unit will give employees the opportunity to gain work experience in a new environment and bring the young coffee shop more exposure.

The trailer also features special menu items the Harvest Village location does not, like fresh-pressed juice.

Perfect Blend has become a safe haven for those who have struggled to fit in with the traditional workforce for a variety of reasons ranging from anxiety, to autism, to lack of mobility.

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The Harvest Village location is known for its array of indulgent signature drinks, named after sweets like the Milky Way, Almond Joy and Butterbeer, in addition to all the coffeehouse classics. But baristas are also given the opportunity to invent and showcase their own creations each month, like the Irish cream and frosted mint latte with a creamy mocha cold foam that was invented for Christmas in July.

Although the employees do grow in their technical skills, like making cups of coffee, Clement said the self-confidence they develop tends to be even more fulfilling.

Perfect Blend barista Eliana Colon said she has watched as her coworkers have showcased unique talents that others do not have, like her coworker, Tyler.

"He literally figures out the solution to everything," Colon said.

He has become her go-to for figuring out the solutions to day-to-day problems, while he will come to her for advice on bettering his social skills. She said all the employees mutually grow and learn from one another.

"I think a lot of them underestimate themselves," Colon said. "You can feel like an outcast sometimes. It's nice to work in a space where everyone is included."

Clement said some employees started out unsure of themselves and would rely on visual charts throughout the coffee shop on how to make drinks and read from a script when interacting with customers. Now they are able to open and close the coffee shop and chat casually with customers.

"(One employee) has taken on ownership of the coffee shop and it's amazing," Clement said.

Clement said when making new hires, some of the starting points she will evaluate are the applicant's fine and gross motor skills, reading levels and cleaning abilities before determining if a role at the coffee shop is the right fit. The goal is to eventually help transition them into being able to make coffee, starting with the easiest menu item, iced coffee, then working up to trickier items like hot lattes.

Every shift has a supervisor who makes sure the employees have a person to lean on for support at all times.

As a mother of a 19-year-old son with autism, Clement said one of her greatest fears was how the community would accept the employees, especially if it meant they were required to wait a little longer for their order. Little did she know, customers would intentionally seek out the coffee shop just to support the work she is doing.

"All in all, the community has 100% backed our mission," Clement said.

Colon said she is constantly approached by parents of children with disabilities who find comfort that they could one day find an enjoyable career.

"Their kids will eventually want a job. It can be scary," Colon said. "It's hope for people in our community that that could be their kids one day."

Clement said she hopes the new trailer will bring more exposure to the Perfect Blend brand and reach "the people in our community that haven't heard of us yet."

"I really want people to see our mission," Clement said.

The Perfect Blend storefront is open at 7552 Navarre Parkway, Suite 33, in Navarre from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.

The Perfect Blend coffee trailer is open at 2199 State Road 87 in Navarre from 7-11 a.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to noon Saturday.

All updated hours and locations can be found on the Perfect Blend Facebook page.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Perfect Blend Coffee Company in Navarre adds trailer at St. Michael's