Our guest speaker for Wednesday, April 18, will be Ruth Thompson. Ruth is the Founder and President of Hugs Café, Inc. After years of working with adults with special needs, she dreamed of a restaurant where the majority of those employed would be adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
With the support of her husband, Chris, they put together a board of directors; incorporated with the state of Texas; received the non-profit status from the IRS; and in October 2015, opened the doors to the first of hopefully many, Hugs Cafes.
Hugs Café employs 23 adults with special “abilities” (team mates). Collin County, Texas has close to 50,000 individuals with disabilities. With this statistic in mind, it was decided to do more. Thus, Hugs Prep evolved teaching other adults with special abilities how to work in the food service industry.
Still the question looms, how to do more. Mid-summer, 2018, Hugs Greenhouse will open. This will give the opportunity to employ others with disabilities who can not work in food service. Flowers, bedding plants and some herb plants will be grown and sold to the general public.
Ruth is married to her biggest supporter, Chris. They have three children, all living in Texas, along with three beautiful grandchildren.
HAVE YOU HAD YOUR HUGS TODAY?
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