A Place At The Table

I didn't grow up with a clear picture of what it meant to be a woman. Raised by my father with two brothers, I had to find pieces of womanhood in the women I worked with, read about, or admired. But slowly, I built a life of intention, crafted with purpose.

As a wife, mother, and business owner, I believe the choices we make, the way we build our homes, the clothes we wear, the meals we prepare, these all shape the lives we lead. It's about creating a space for joy and peace, not by accident, but by design.

We'll explore the stories of people who live life with intention. People who don't wait for life to be perfect, but embrace the beauty and meaning in their everyday choices. Because living a life of faith and beauty isn't something we wait for, it's something we create. And through these stories, we discover new ways to flourish, one intentional step at a time.

Some places hum with something sacred. Before the doors open, before the coffee is poured, you can feel the purpose in the silence. Brother Andre's Café is more than just a coffee shop. It's a place of belonging, where people with disabilities aren't just supported. They shine. I am the Brother Andre's professor.

Slash Chef and the head president of the merch. Yeah, I make people happy wherever I go. It makes me feel, it makes me feel very uplifting, happy. Where I work with people. Who are like me, with IDD, or with a different disability?

My name is Patrick, and make cookies. Patrick, send me sing-a-doos. Everybody, love them! Brother Andres is one of the best things that ever happened to me. I always hoped I would find something that would give me a purpose. I would say I like making coffees. I love coming here a lot. In 2021, the Fitzgerald family came to me with a wonderful idea of how to serve the most vulnerable, how to serve the IDD community through a coffee shop here in Pittsburgh.

I was all in. Hello. Nice to meet you. Yeah, your sister was telling me all about you. She was telling me you had some nicknames. Yep. Yeah. So, which one should I call you, or what do you prefer being called?

Does Corey call you K-Man? So, tell me what you're doing here on these cups. So, what do these say? Oh, that's so good, and you drew that? And then what does this say? Love came in. Love came in? Okay, what is this one? What were you writing here? St. Andre was a doorkeeper, a man of deep humility who opened hearts through small acts of love.

Here, his spirit lives on in every welcome, every task, every smile. And in the word of Mr. Rogers, always look for the helper. I'm Mike Fitzgerald, and along with my wife, Terry, and Father Chris Donley, we're the co-founders of Brother Andre's Cafe. Okay, and your son, Patrick, would you say he's kind of an inspiration? Oh, absolutely, yeah. Pat lives with autism, and it hasn't been an easy journey by any stretch, as any parent will tell you. As a parent of a special needs child, I think our biggest worry is what's going to happen when we're gone.

This is one way God says, I have this. I've got it. You were worried about how he was going to fill his days, and look how he's filling his days. What are you doing here? I'm cooking eggs. Eggs?

Snickerdoodles. Snickerdoodles? I take some of the snickerdoodles. Wow, the famous snickerdoodles. Yeah. And these are your favorite cookies? Yeah. You're pretty good at cracking these eggs. Yeah. What's your favorite part? Of cracking the eggs. You like to crack eggs. They are fun. Yeah. I think it is. Yeah. Is this what we're making right now? Yeah. And it has your name? Name it. It says, what does that say? Patrick Sembe Singadoo. Since the day we started. He bounces out of bed every morning, and he's so eager to come down.

Now, he has a purpose. You know, he has a reason to get up in the morning. He loves it here. He has friends here. There's just a lot of social interaction for him here, and we couldn't be happier with the way it's turned out. It just brings me so much joy for Patrick and for all the employees.

Every person here brings something essential, something only they can give. You don't just feel welcomed at Brother Andre's. You feel seen. I was number 10. Yes, I was number 10, and now we are up to 26 employees. Wow, what does it mean, kind of, being number 10 here, being one of the first? What does that mean for you? Oh, it's pure joy. I feel really at home here. All these people, they're like me. I come here, and I just feel...

Happy. I feel, all my depression goes away. All my anxiety goes away. All my heartbreak goes away. It's just, it's amazing. You know, what made Nick before this job? Feeling alone, and not realizing that there were other people that also were kind of in my situation, but in their own way.

Do you think Brother Andre's Cafe is so much more than coffee? Oh, it is so much more than coffee, without a question. It is so much more than coffee. They all just are very content with what they have and where they are. As an occupational therapist, I am here to help the team members be as independent as possible. So, we'll come up with a goal that means something to them, and we'll come up with a plan of how to achieve that goal.

For a lot of their lives, they've likely just looked to other people in authority to tell them what to do. And so, we're just very big on not doing that here as best we can, and then helping them grow. They have to figure it out for themselves. And have the confidence in that. Totally. There's some visual cues for the recipes and stickers and stickers everywhere. Photos. Yeah. Like intentionally creating the environment for every single person here to flourish. Yeah. Yeah. That's what we hope to do.

Okay. So, tell me. How does this work? How do you interact with customers? I type on my iPad app. That's how I communicate with the customer. Okay. Did you ever think, like, oh my gosh, I can use this to serve customers at a coffee shop?

Never in a million years did you think you could be a cashier, but here you are. And do you think people come and they're like, wait, this is so awesome. This is what flourishing looks like. Not perfection, but purpose. Not being the best, but being needed, being valued, and being loved.

So, what we try and do is create an environment of community, create an environment where there can be an intentional living out of what they value the most, but what gets taken away so often. I'm Jordan. Jordan, okay. How's it going, Shay? Good. Shay's the boss. Absolutely the boss. She runs this place. She'll get you what you need, but on her terms, and I absolutely love it. Thanks again. Hey, hold me over here, buddy. I can't believe it. Give me a high five.

Your baby is so adorable. Yes. I love this kid right here. Work brought them together, but this, this is family. A family built not just on coffee or cookies, but on a belief that every person has something irreplaceable to offer.

We drive him in, and he just sings the whole way, and I'm not exaggerating. Like, he literally will say, let's do this, gets his stuff, and he just runs with a great big smile, and I've never done that when I've gone into work. I can learn a lot from you. Exactly. During work, At noon, do you guys always have mass? We always have mass on Wednesdays and Fridays. We always have noon mass. So, you stop work and you say, time for Jesus?

Yeah, time for Jesus. We stop work, time for Jesus. Being able to be here and being part of this is phenomenal. Deep-rooted. Joy. You know God is in her. You know He is. I can't believe the change in her. It's been glorious.

See, it's really just been an incredible blessing with everything that we're able to do. So, it's not like, for me, it's not about having a disability. It's about having an ability to do something that other people think you can't do.

Like, there's something so magical. Can you kind of describe what that magic is that happens when you walk in the door? It's the team. The team makes it go smoothly, makes the magic, makes everybody welcome here. Each one has their own quirks and personalities.

The way that they've done the cafe here, just like celebrating each person and them, but celebrating the gift that they are from God. It brings me deeper into my faith. Thank you. Have a great day. You know, if you were to say, you know, okay, like, you know, even humanly, what would you like to see? I would like to see 100, 200 IDD employees to be thriving and to be able to live their best lives, and that we could be one small part of that here at the cafe.

I'm going on four years of doing this. It's been an absolutely incredible journey, and I cannot wait to see what comes next. Have patience and don't lose hope is really what I think I've learned, you know, and keep going. Keep putting one foot in front of the other.

To flourish is to be rooted in love, and here in this quaint cafe in Pittsburgh, love pours out in every detail, every cup, every name remembered, and every chance given.