{"id":49703,"date":"2026-05-18T05:38:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T05:38:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/49703\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T05:38:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T05:38:08","slug":"new-toronto-cafe-gives-its-employees-a-chance-to-beat-the-odds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/49703\/","title":{"rendered":"New Toronto cafe gives its employees a chance to beat the odds"},"content":{"rendered":"

On a Wednesday afternoon, Joey Matchen and Dianne Chazen worked the cash register and espresso machine at The Infinite Bean Cafe. As the two employees made latte art and sorted baked goods, there didn\u2019t appear to be anything remarkable going on. But Matchen and Chazen, who are both neurodiverse, face significantly higher rates of unemployment<\/a> compared to the rest of the population. The Infinite Bean, whose staff is made up of neurodiverse employees, offers people like Matchen and Chazen work \u2014 in a time when the odds are not in their favour when it comes to securing employment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Opened in April, The Infinite Bean is located on the main floor of the Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre, in downtown Toronto. Although The Infinite Bean itself is not a Jewish organization, the cafe has embedded itself within the Jewish community. The cafe\u2019s sister location, Holy Grounds, can be found inside of Holy Blossom Synagogue, while the organization\u2019s catering operations and kitchen run out of Congregation Darchei Noam. All three locations \u2014 which employ a total of 35 people \u2014 are overseen by parent company, Rafiken Social Enterprises. The Infinite Bean will soon launch a challah subscription service, offering subscribers the opportunity pick up their weekly challahs from inside the cafe.<\/p>\n

\"\"Joey Matchen serves up coffee at The Infinite Bean, a cafe inside Toronto\u2019s Mile Nadal JCC. (Credit: Emma Paidra)<\/p>\n

Bethanie Roy, director of The Infinite Bean and Holy Grounds, says the cafes can help reduce unemployment rates amongst neurodiverse people. \u201cWe want to address that [employment] gap,\u201d she says. \u201cWhat we wanted to do was create these jobs, but also try to show that it is possible for other enterprises to employ this population.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Roy said that currently there aren\u2019t enough programs helping neurodiverse people to find work.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Canada, there are a lot of training opportunities, but not a lot of follow through,\u201d she says. By contrast, The Infinite Bean provides assistance to its employees from the training stage and throughout employment. \u201cWe have support integrated, and that\u2019s how we build our business,\u201d she said. The employees \u201cwill need a transitional period with support, just like anybody else.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Another goal of The Infinite Bean\u2019s is to foster interaction with the neurodiverse community. \u201cWe wanted to be public-facing,\u201d she says. \u201cWe want to show that we\u2019re all just human beings, and we\u2019re doing our best to go through this life.\u201d Roy says that the cafe\u2019s location within the JCC has been a good fit, with the Jewish community reacting well to the new addition. \u201cThe community is really supportive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matchen, 26, remembers being nervous about interacting with the public when they first started working at Holy Grounds four years ago. \u201cI wanted to be in the kitchen instead of with the customers,\u201d they recall. Now, working at The Infinite Bean and Holy Grounds, Matchen \u2014 who is Jewish \u2014 is constantly speaking with customers, and is working on perfecting their latte art. Working in a supportive environment has been helpful, as they sometimes get overwhelmed and need to know they can take a moment.<\/p>\n

Chazen, 35, also feels that she has grown in her time at The Infinite Bean. \u201cIt\u2019s giving me more experience,\u201d she says. \u201cI just never thought that I could be a barista. But now that I am, it feels great.\u201d Though Chazen has past work experience \u2014 and currently balances a second part-time job at another cafe \u2014 she says that she is trusted with more responsibility at The Infinite Bean.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When Chazen started working at The Infinite Bean, the cafe consisted of a rolling cart in the JCC\u2019s gallery room, offering drip coffee and pre-made baked goods. Today, the cafe has its own designated space, complete with a seating area, a countertop oven for baking cookies in-house, and a small display of artwork made by employees. \u201cWe\u2019ve really come a long way,\u201d she says.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Michelle Vella, director of operations, says since joining The Infinite Bean in June 2025, she has learned a lot about working with the neurodiverse community. \u201cThey\u2019re the best employees because they\u2019re so thrilled to be able to come to work,\u201d she says. \u201cOften, you don\u2019t necessarily get that in the everyday working world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vella, whose background is in hospitality, says that other businesses could learn from The Infinite Bean\u2019s model. \u201cThis is what we should be doing more of in general for everybody: considering people\u2019s needs so that they can produce and work better. Giving people the tools so they can get the job done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roy said that her employees enjoy the work they do and find value in the human interaction it brings them. \u201cThey really want to connect. They just don\u2019t always connect in the same way as we all do.\u201d Perhaps more than anything, Roy wants Torontonians to know that staffers like Matchen and Chazen just want the chance to be employed. \u201cThey want to contribute,\u201d she says. \u201cIf you ask them what they want, they want to work.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On a Wednesday afternoon, Joey Matchen and Dianne Chazen worked the cash register and espresso machine at The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":49704,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[13240,48],"class_list":["post-49703","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-toronto","tag-disability","tag-toronto"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49703","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49703"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49703\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49704"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49703"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49703"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}