‘A place for every ability’: Yakima coffee shop creates inclusive spot to work and sip

YAKIMA — Despite the name, Common Grounds Coffee Co. isn’t all about coffee. It’s about creating an inclusive space for people with disabilities and providing a place that those without disabilities can connect with them in a positive way, said owner Hannah Stewart.

“My goal is to normalize disabilities in the workplace,” she said.

Stewart, a 2015 Zillah High School and Central Washington University alumna, has been busy in the eight years since she graduated. She has lived in Arizona and Montana before returning to her home state; working with the Special Olympics Organization.

“I just kind of found a need within (working with Special Olympics) for a population – employment, social isolation problems, mental health conditions, all that kind of stuff,” said Stewart.

She said she felt like she could make a difference in at least two of those needs – employment and social isolation – through a business that could offer employment opportunities and host inclusive events to encourage socialization.

She said Yakima, where she opened Common Grounds, is an area that needed more opportunities for people with disabilities, especially adults.

“I knew I wanted to do it and I knew I was going to do it,” Stewart said. “Saving toward it, doing the research, making the connections – but it was really discovering a place that needed it the most and it was this valley.”

Yakima was also close to family and friends, whose support she felt was important in starting a business from the ground up.

“I bounced around – Montana, Arizona – when I was in those places, I still had that idea brewing but I don’t think I had the same community that I would have had being here.”

In fact, Stewart said the name for her business came from her mom as they were discussing a name that would suit her goal of creating a space for everyone of any ability to be able to come together and find common ground.

Stewart’s passion started when she was only a teen, she said.

“(In) middle school, there was one instance where I knew I had a passion for individuals with disabilities,” she said. “I didn’t think that would be what I would pursue and it’s not what I went to college for.”

She elaborated that she met a special needs boy in middle school whom she connected with and it inspired her to want to continue working with those with special needs. Although, she said she had intended to do it in a service capacity outside of school or work, not as a career.

She went off to college and got a degree in interior design, until something told her she needed to work with people with different abilities.

“I just felt it pulling at my heartstrings to get involved with that community,” Stewart said.

She also said she has already seen some parts of her journey come full circle.

“The reason why I actually started the business and learned more about individuals (with disabilities) and what they face was William (Blazina),” Stewart said. “He was the very first person I worked with who had a disability when I was 18 and he just changed my heart.”

She said she worked with Blazina when she was a job coach, and now she has hired him as an employee at her shop.

She said getting people comfortable with the idea of disability employment is what her biggest challenge was and still is in starting this business. Part of the reason people are not very comfortable with disability employment is that there are not many situations where people are able to socialize and get to know disabled people, she said.

“I want to figure out where the barrier is and make those two worlds connect better,” said Stewart. “And that would start with doing something like this.”

Using her interior design skills, Stewart gave the space a modern and colorful splash of different patterns and art. Some art, like the signatures of visitors on one wall, was not intentional but adds to the uniqueness of the shop. Other art features messages like “A place for every ability” and “All are welcome, empowered, encouraged, important, respected here.”

Stewart said she hopes to offer more free events like paint nights, yoga, and live music because finances can be a barrier for people with disabilities. She said another goal is to have five shops in five years. She wants to open one each year and plans to have them in Wenatchee, Moses Lake, Tri-Cities and Ellensburg.

“That’s definitely my goal here. It’s not the coffee – I’m not even passionate about that – I’m more passionate about finding something that is social,” Stewart. “Coffee is one of the most social things that we can go do – you go to your coffee shop and meet up with somebody, you talk to the barista, whatever.”

Rebecca Pettingill may be reached at rpettingill@columbiabasinherald.com.