Breaking Barriers, Building Futures: The Story of GHA Autism Supports and Second Street Sundries in Albemarle, NC

*This episode is part of a series highlighting stories in Albemarle, North Carolina*

Welcome to today’s episode! We have two very special guests joining us from Albemarle, NC. Dawn Allen from GHA Autism Supports and Alan Cremisi, who is supported by GHA,  from Second Street Sundries.

Alan is a talented barista and coffee master who has been with Second Street
Sundries since they first opened their doors in 2015. He has a passion for
coffee and has developed a deep understanding of the coffee-making process,
from bean to cup. He loves his job and the relationships he has built with
customers, but also has a secret coffee bar in his own apartment that he says
makes an even better cup of coffee. 

Dawn has been the CEO of GHA Autism Supports for almost 40 years, providing services and opportunities for individuals with autism. In this episode we talk about how GHA and Second Street Sundries work together to
support individuals like Alan, and how they are also a part of a larger
international network, learning from and sharing their experiences with
professionals from around the world including Japan and Denmark. Join us on a journey to uncover the inspiring stories and destinations that make our world feel a little bit smaller.

https://secondstreetsundries.com/
https://www.ghaautismsupports.org/

Transcript

Host: Welcome to Voices of Inspiration. I am your host, Amelia Old. Thank you for joining us today on our newest episode. This is part of a series where we have been highlighting stories in Albemarle, North Carolina. And today we have two very special guests. Joining us from the Albemarle community, Dawn Allen from GHA Autism Supports and Alan Cremisi, who was supported by GHA from Second Street Sundries. Alan is a talented barista and coffee master who has been with Second Street Sundries since they first opened their doors in 2015. He has a passion for coffee and has developed a deep understanding of the coffee making process from bean to cup. 

He loves his job and the relationships he has built with customers, but also has a secret coffee bar in his own apartment that he says makes an even better cup of coffee. Dawn has been the CEO of GHA Autism Supports for almost 40 years providing services and opportunities for individuals with autism. 

In this episode, we talk about how GHA and Second Street Sundries work to support individuals like Alan and how they're also part of a larger international network learning from and sharing their experience with professionals from around the world, including Japan and Denmark. Join us on a journey to uncover inspiring stories and destinations that make our world feel a little bit smaller. 

Let's get to it. 

Host: I'd like to hear a little bit about your story and hear how long you've been at Second Street Sundries.

Alan: I have been here since we opened in 2015, employed by GHA.

Host: What task are you responsible for? 

Alan: I, I'm responsible for the, , Starbucks station in terms of making sure everything's stocked and cleaned and, , making sure all the drinks go out correctly.
And, , I've, I've recently taken on some of the inventory responsibilities as well.

Host: So, , , can you share any challenges you might have faced over the last years and 
how you overcome those? 

Alan: Having no food service experience before, just dealing with the learning curve of it at the beginning and then dealing with the coworkers along the way. Some of them that are,  just the neurotypical ones that don't exactly see. We don't exactly see eye to eye sometimes.

Host: I can understand that . How do you think working at Second Street Sundries has impacted your life and your personal growth? 

 Host: Well there are, it, it's many reasons, but I'm gonna name two of them. The first one being that I've been able to work, , through a global pandemic or through the majority of it. And we haven't really missed much of a beat. And two, I've been, since the pandemic, I've been able to move into my own apartment, as I would say, as a direct result of my work. 

Host: Congratulations.

Alan: Thank you. 

Host: And I hear you have your own coffee station at your home. Can  you tell me about it? 

Alan: That's pretty much my child.  I, I have a bunch of coffee machinery and a coffee grinder and I, you know, working here has really piqued a real passion for the nuances of coffee and how it's grown, et cetera.

Host: So, How does working there make you feel more included and valued in your community? 

Alan: Really just the relationships I've built with my customers. I mean, I really have made some lifelong friends here and I'm really thankful for.

Host: Can you share a particularly memorable moment or experience you've had working at Second Street?

Alan:  It only happens one day a year, but I would say the Albemarle Christmas parade is our busiest Starbucks Day of the year. And being able to really crank the work out that day is, gives me a huge sense of pride. 

Host: What makes Albemarle  special to you? 

Alan: I actually grew up in Charlotte. I didn't move to Albemarle  until I was about 20 when I got into there as a one of their residents in their group homes. So,  it, it was definitely a culture shock coming here, but the relationships that I've built, as I said, have been, I've made some friends that I'm gonna have for life, regardless of where I'm at.

Host:  That's wonderful. And I have one more question for you.  If you had a favorite quote or any words of wisdom that you would leave the listeners, what would you say to them?

Alan: Really just to take it one day at a time and just try to be better than you were the day before. 

Host: That's a good quote. Thank you so much, Alan. 

Host to Dawn:  Can you tell us a little bit about G H A Autism Supports and the mission of Second Street Sundries?

Dawn: Yes, GHA Autism Supports began in 1978 to provide services for children with autism spectrum disorder. And over the years we have grown to meet the needs of people with autism and to also adapt to meet the needs of the people we are currently supporting, which we currently support over a hundred people here in Stanly County and in Wilmington, North Carolina. So, the Second Street Sundries has really been kind of an offshoot of that kind of concept of trying to meet the needs. We had a lot of people employed in local restaurants and in the late, you know, like 2000 and, , 16, 15, 14, we started seeing them losing their jobs when restaurants were cutting back and we decided that the only way we could ensure that there would be jobs available for people with asd is to actually do it ourselves. So if you'd have told me 10 years ago we'd be owning and operating a coffee shop cafe, I would tell you crazy , but cause it was not in my wheelhouse. But, luckily you, we've got some great people who know how to run a restaurant and bringing Alan on board has been just a phenomenal addition too.

Host: And you have a partnership with Starbucks. Can you talk about that? 

Dawn: Yes. So there's , two ways to acquire Starbucks. You can be a proudly serve, which we are a proudly serve Starbucks or you can do a standalone store. We chose to not do a standalone store because we really wanted to be able to do our own food and be able to have some input into that, but the drinks are all Starbucks drinks. We had to be trained by people from Starbucks. Everything is, we don't.  exactly. All the drinks that they have, but we get a majority of them. And so it's, it's like going into a hotel that has  Starbucks, they're proudly served. Barnes and Noble is a proudly served so,  

Host: And it's not as, as common. Right. To, to be able to get that as?

Dawn: Yes. We, we had to jump through a lot of hoops, , to do that because Starbucks turned us down to start with, and the community rallied around us and really showed that this would be a great addition to the community and Starbucks,  three days after a rep came to visit us and we had a contract to be a proudly served. 

Host: What type of employment opportunities are provided to individuals at Second Street Sundries?

Dawn: So the employment opportunities here, I'll start with with Alan to, to begin with Alan, , I had him in mind to be a barista because the thing about Starbucks, , as with a lot of other,  recipe style drinks is that things are written out and with people with autism, they're very visual, so being able to see exactly what you need was gonna be really great for him.

And I remember approaching him about it. He was living, as he told you in one of our group homes, and he said, , I don't like Starbucks. He said, I even have a T-shirt that says, friends, don't let friends  drink Starbucks. And I said, well, can you just give it a try and can you do, you know, for two weeks?

And he said, two weeks. And I said, two weeks. So we had the training, Starbucks, , employees came in to do the training and there is a huge recipe book.  I did not know that until we got into this for Starbucks. And she then had, we had some college students employed and Alan was gonna be a barista  and she said, who can tell me what's in a caramel macchiato?

And Alan's hand went straight up and the rest of 'em are flipping through their recipe book. And he said it's like, you know, two pumps of this, three of that. And she said, perfect. And then she asked, who can tell me what's in a cafe latte? Same thing. And she said, Alan, you've not looked at your recipe book.

How do you know this? He said, I memorized the book the first week I had it. And she said, we don't have a barista anywhere in the world that can quote this recipe book. Alan is phenomenal and Starbucks proudly serve recognized that, and he's not going to toot his own horn, but he was recognized by them and became part of their coffee master program that Starbucks did for a while.

And he got to wear a separate apron because he became a coffee he went through the training.  But there are other jobs we have jobs where people are making, preparing salads, cutting things, putting them in packaging we have where they're cleaning, , washing dishes, taking out trash, those types of things. So we really are providing some great job opportunities. 

Host: Now, has anyone else been there As long as Alan?

Dawn: Alan is really our senior staff and, and he's our head barista. And he did take on roles of managing the Starbucks line in the last six months. So he really takes pride in his job, takes a lot of pride. . 

Host: So how does G H A  ensure that the individuals that you serve are receiving adequate support while they're working at  Second Street ?

Dawn: So we consider everyone an individual and pay close attention to what they like, they dislike if there's environmental issues.  certain things that they need changed. So it's an ongoing process. It's not a one and done with us. It is. We don't make people fit into a box. We look at each person as an individual and determine what they need, won't like dislike.

Host: Now Alan mentions that he was able to move out on his own finally, is that something the organization helps? 

Dawn: Yes. One of the goals of our organization, or the primary goal is to ensure that people reach their maximum potential desire with our support. So we've had people move through our programs and we have group homes, we have apartments.
We have this program, we have a farm program. We've got a medically fragile medical program, but the whole idea is to help you achieve what you want. And we have had other people move out into their own place and Alan is living in his own apartment, working full-time, and, uh, just get some job, uh, training from us and a little bit of support.

Host: Can you speak to the impact that Second Street has had on the local community 

Dawn: We are considered a successful small business here that's being run by a nonprofit, which is GHA Autism supports, and we see the community embrace us and embrace our individuals.

And Alan, when he talks about lifelong friends, there are people who will say, I go to Second Street because of. . It's great food. It's great coffee. But Alan's the reason I go, and Alan is one of those people that if you order the same thing twice, he's gonna remember you. And you walk through the door and he'll say, Dawn, do you want your typical, you want your dark roast with three stevias?

And so that's the kind of customer support he gives and I think that has helped the organization and it's also helped the community see that people with autism are valued people in the community, and it helps the awareness.  And we have a thing on the door that says, or on the window, you know, we're providing opportunities for people with autism.

Host: Can you tell us about the retail store inside of Second Street?

 Dawn: So we've got a glassworks program we have individuals that are making bowls and plates and doing that time, and then they're fired in a kiln. And, , then during the holiday season we really stocked the gift shop with those items, but also with some items that are made in North Carolina, some food items.

So,  through a contract, , that we have. So there's different things that we can provide and do gift baskets and those types of things. 

Host: What response have you received from the Albemarle community? 

Dawn: Oh, it, it's just  phenomenal if you actually look at how we are received and the customer feedback that we have. And you know, it's really important to make sure that not only are we giving back to the community, the community's giving to us. So it's really a very much a hand and glove kind of process. So we want the community to know we really expect perfection as much as possible with customer service, but we are so thrilled to have them together with us. 

Host: How do you see Second Street and G H A  continuing to evolve and making a positive impact in the Albemarle community? 

Dawn: Well, we have really done a lot of different things with providing discount programs to teachers, local college students, law enforcement, e m s, , the hospital. During the pandemic, we were providing free boxes of coffee every morning for the nurses and doctors. We would deliver it to the door and it would be put up and the nurses and doctors would be lined up to get their free cup of coffee.

But we wanted people to know that we appreciated what they were doing during the pandemic and knew they were working long hours. And then we've had other special events where we've stayed open, like for the Christmas parade. We stay open later for that downtown Christmas, we've stayed open for that because that's, I. To, we are part of this community. We've gotten a lot from this community and we want to give back to this community. 

Host: What inspired you to get into this line of work? ? 

Dawn: When I was 22 years old, I was finishing at Pfeiffer University. It was in Pfeiffer College, and I had a six month time period before I was going to graduate school to become a school psychologist, and this was 1981.

 I had a little bit of a blurb about autism, but really didn't, it wasn't something that was known. And we were told at that time it was one in 10,000. And this man came to my senior psych class and started talking about they needed these substitute direct support staff to help with this brand new children's group home.

And , I thought, well, I can go there and do that for six months. . I discovered really early in life that I have a passion for people with autism, and so decided to stay ended up later going and getting my Master's degree in special education from U N C C, but really have held practically every job in this organization with the exception of maintenance. And I've done some of that over the years too, when it's things have been clogged up or needed things. 

Host: This podcast is a lot about traveling to different places and the really unique businesses that you can find and the, the amazing stories among the communities.

And I would really love to hear what are  some of your favorite things to do in Albemarle and some of your favorite places to go? 

Dawn: We've got some great gyms here. I am a big exerciser.  I also like to run. We've got some great greenway space here to do that, but, , other great restaurants, we are all, , stronger together and supporting other restaurants and retail, , is very, very important. The small businesses are very important.

Host: Where can our listeners find you online and also in person if they wanna come and get a cup of coffee? 

Dawn: So they can find us here on Second Street 2 21 South second Street is the address for Second Street Sundries here in Albemarle.

And , I am in and out, but I am also visiting our other programs. We have group homes, apartments, and, a farm. So I'm out and about a lot,  but we welcome the opportunity to share more about our story and we've got a real unique state-of-the-art medical program that just opened out on Morrow Mountain Road.

That's the first of its kind anywhere in the world, and it's supporting, , people with, , autism and other developmental disabilities who have medical needs. And it's. Them out of the hospital and keep them with a high quality of life. So that's incredible 

Host: Congratulations on that. 

Dawn: And we're known nationally and internationally, so we had a lot pre pandemic.
I went to Japan four different times to lecture and they were sending a group of professionals here every year to Albemarle. So there were like 30 people that would come every year. We've had interns who came and spent six months and really followed us around. And then the last time I was in Japan, I actually got to see some of their programs.

They hadn't shown them to me, and I walked in and this looks like, and they went, yep. These are your programs. We copied them. So we've been to Denmark and they've been here. We've got a lot of different international partners, so we really feel it's important to learn from each other. 

Host: Where can our listeners find you online?

Dawn: SecondStreetSundries.com. 

Host: What makes Albemarle special to you? You've been there your whole life. What makes it special to you? 

Dawn: It's the fact that no matter where you go in Albemarle, you're gonna see somebody you know or you maybe haven't seen in a long time. Or someone's going, you're gonna meet somebody new.

And it is very much a hometown feel and it's just it's just a wonderful place to live. It's a wonderful place to raise children and a wonderful place to do work. 

Host: So I ask everybody that comes on, this question if, do you have a favorite quote or any words of wisdom that you would like to leave behind with our listeners?

Dawn: Yes, so, This is something that I say to my fellow staff members on a regular basis. It's not that we can't, but how can we? 

Host: I like that. I like that. Thank you so much for joining me today and for Alan for joining me today. I really appreciate it.  I think that you guys are doing incredible work and that's, I've been in the Carolinas for a really long time and wasn't familiar with you guys and I'm excited to share your story and to follow along and see what you guys continue to do, the work that you continue to do.

I think you're pretty amazing. 

Dawn: Thank you. We appreciate the opportunity to share and look forward to maybe some more opportunities to do. 

Host: Absolutely. 

Dawn: Thank you Amelia