Red Bank approves "Robo Café," a proposed training center for people with disabilities
RED BANK – A training café and store for people with disabilities may open within the next year after receiving approval from the borough planning board on Monday.
The café and store are proposed to be located at 62 White St., replacing the former Toymasters store.
The approval comes after a neuro-inclusive apartment building dubbed Thrive Red Bank on Shrewsbury Ave. was approved in September.
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Ross Yellin of Manalapan said his company, Inclusion Pathways, hopes to train about 15-30 adults with disabilities at the café that could host up to 28 customers for a light lunch. The building would also host a retail space selling 3D printed robots made by the trainees and a gaming room space for the trainees to unwind. The program will be free for all trainees.
According to John Anderson, attorney for the developer, the company is for-profit, making revenues through Medicaid billing. Due to its for-profit status, the borough would not lose a taxable property.
Yellin, who has Tourette Syndrome, OCD and ADHD, said helping others has helped ease his social anxiety.
“When you’re helping other people, you forget about the stuff you’re dealing with,” he said.
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He has worked in the disability field for the majority of his career, spending the last decade building his non-profit Disability Allies.
His current work involves going to people homes and assisting in care, tutoring and community integration.
He said he decided on the “Robo Café” because the next step would be to create a gathering place for people with disabilities to socialize and gain job training.
“It’s important for them to have independent and successful lives,” he said, noting that the majority of programing for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities comes in the form of day programs.
“A lot of them go to regular day programs where they color and read,” he said. “That’s not the kind of life that they want. You want to create a life for them where they can have integration, (which) is the most important thing.”
He said downtown Red Bank was chosen because of the recently approved neuro-inclusive apartment. It was also chosen because any pedestrian could walk into the café or store and interact with the trainees.
“Getting folks more comfortable with one another,” Anderson said. “I think that’s a two-way street. Getting folks that don’t have special needs more comfortable with folks that do have special needs. And getting those with special needs more comfortable interacting in the community, a work environment.”
Olivia Liu is a reporter covering transportation, Red Bank and western Monmouth County. She can be reached at oliu@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Red Bank approves café, training center for people with disabilities
