Lagoon Creek Cafe & Function Room provides much more than coffee and corporate function services. This organisation’s primary focus is on getting people with challenges into ongoing and meaningful employment.
The cafe and function centre are part of Better Together – A Caboolture Disability Support Service, which aims to ‘develop a more inclusive Caboolture and surrounding regions’.
Better Together Manager, Amie Storer explained the purpose of Lagoon Creek Cafe & Function Room.
“So, most cafes employ people to make food, we make food to employ people,” Ms Storer explained in the video above.
“When someone comes in for a coffee, they experience the beautiful surroundings here at the cafe that’s in a lovely bush setting, the sounds of the creek, the sounds of the birds.
“It’s a really beautiful environment.
“The service here is impeccable.
“No matter who you are or what your walk is in life, you will be treated with a smile at the door and have a really lovely welcoming experience, and it’ll be a place that you feel belonged and you feel welcomed and that you really want to come back to.”
While businesses and the general public get the benefits of a function room and cafe, the organisation has many success stories in terms of transforming people’s lives.
“John spent many of his years struggling to find employment, struggled with housing, struggled with his own mental health and through gaining employment with the cafe, he’s been able to maintain employment for the last eight to nine years, (and) maintain a solid private rental,” Ms Storer explained.
“He’s kept himself out of hospital because of that sense of purpose and employment.
“It’s a real beautiful thing to see him grow and flourish.
“He has now become a supervisor where he gets to train other staff and other members, and the smile on his face, the sense of pride that he has when he gets to talk about his job … The one thing that we all do when we meet people is, ‘What do you do?’
“He gets to have that opportunity to say, ‘Well, I’m a supervisor at the cafe.’
“That sense and growth that you can see from him from the beginning to where he is today, it’s a beautiful thing to see.
“And, we’ve got 100 other stories similar to that that show just when supports and opportunities are provided in the right way with the right foundations, that people’s growth can be exponential.
“It sounds very cliché, but when we are working together, we are better and that’s ‘Better Together’,” Ms Storer concluded.
Full interview transcript:
Hi, my name is Amie Storer, and I am the manager here at Better Together. So, most cafes employ people to make food, we make food to employ people. When someone comes in for a coffee, they experience the beautiful surroundings here at the cafe that’s in a lovely bush setting, the sounds of the creek, the sounds of the birds. It’s a really beautiful environment. The service here is impeccable. No matter who you are or what your walk is in life, you will be treated with a smile at the door and have a really lovely welcoming experience, and it’ll be a place that you feel belonged and you feel welcomed and that you really want to come back to.
We use locally sourced coffee beans from a local in Wamuran, herbicide and pesticide free. The coffee is impeccable. We have people coming back for our coffee. Some of the corporate clients come back just because of the relationships and welcoming experience that they have from the staff here at the cafe. The function room here that we have is the same that you would expect to see at any function room or meeting area that you would expect to find anywhere else in the region.
The service is impeccable, and the space is beautiful and suited to everyone’s needs. We also have a program, Skilling Queenslanders for Work. That program supports long-term unemployed people to get a Certificate II in Retail or a Certificate III in Individual Support. And, we’re there to support them into gaining employment.
So, one of our really great success stories that we have here is John. John is someone that regularly tells his story and does presenting at community forums and speaks publicly. John spent many of his years struggling to find employment, struggled with housing, struggled with his own mental health and through gaining employment with the cafe, he’s been able to maintain employment for the last eight to nine years, maintain a solid private rental. He’s kept himself out of hospital because of that sense of purpose and employment. It’s a real beautiful thing to see him grow and flourish.
He has now become a supervisor where he gets to train other staff and other members, and the smile on his face, the sense of pride that he has when he gets to talk about his job … The one thing that we all do when we meet people is, “What do you do?” He gets to have that opportunity to say, “Well, I’m a supervisor at the cafe.” That sense and growth that you can see from him from the beginning to where he is today, it’s a beautiful thing to see. And, we’ve got 100 other stories similar to that that show just when supports and opportunities are provided in the right way with the right foundations that people’s growth can be exponential.
Many people with disabilities are really isolated and segregated from community, and having opportunities to actually gain meaningful employment is something that’s of a real challenge, and many people that we support can often never be provided the opportunities to have a paid role. So, the cafe that we work with is a really great opportunity for people to be provided that opportunity and showcase to community that people with disabilities can be employed. They can contribute to the community, and they are valued members, if only just being given that opportunity that they can really strive and reach their goals and showcase what they can do.
It sounds very cliché, but when we are working together, we are better and that’s Better Together.