UES café dedicated to employing people with cognitive disabilities opens: ‘It’s a joy for them to have a job’
French entrepreneur Yann Bucaille-Lanrezac remembers the day he met Theodore, a young boy on the autism spectrum, during a cruise for an organization he created for those with special needs.
“He came to me and he said, ‘I heard that you are a boss, can you give me a job?’ ” Bucaille-Lanrezac told The Post.
When Bucaille-Lanrezac told Theodore he didn’t have a job, the boy responded, “No, you don’t understand. I know I have a disability that can be useful. I want to have a job like you.”
That memory led Bucaille-Lanrezac to open Café Joyeux, a French family of inclusive café-restaurants that solely recruits individuals with cognitive and intellectual disabilities, giving opportunities to those who otherwise might not have them.
Over 7 million Americans have mental or cognitive disabilities, and 80% of them are unemployed — but Bucaille-Lanrezac hopes to change that.
