Mobile Coffee Cart Start-Up!

Hello! My name is Pam Aronow and I’m launching a mobile coffee cart business with my non-speaking autistic son, Ian, in our hometown of Fort Collins, Colorado. Welcome to the GoFundMe for Akasha Coffee!

Hello! My name is Ian Aronow. Speech may not be my strong suit but I feel that I’m a fantastic communicator through the beautiful art and science of coffee making. I am so excited to start this coffee cart business with my mom. Not only am I very gifted when it comes to serving coffee, but I am also able to enjoy the gift of drinking it every day in our home café. I am certain that we make some of the best lattes you will ever taste. I want to thank you for supporting our special project and making a little dream come true.

Many of you know that we moved to Fort Collins 4 years ago, so Ian and our family could be part of Keys4Autism --a great community of autistic folks and their families gathering for shared purpose, inclusion, communication, education and more! We currently share our barista skills within the community by serving up lattes and other coffee creations when we have gatherings.

Ian and I have been home espresso and latte hobbyists for years and want to branch out and make it a business. We’ve tossed this idea around for quite some time. Jobs for non-speaking autistic people are not easy to come by and so part of this venture is to create a job for Ian (that he loves doing) and one where I can assist him (I love it too). The love we have for serving specialty coffee drinks to guests at home and within our Keys4Autism community has given us the inspiration to take it to the next level.

While the costs of starting a mobile coffee cart are much much lower than a traditional brick-and-mortar coffee shop, we still need $15,000-$20,000 to do so. These funds will cover a custom built coffee cart that meets local county health code for mobile food businesses, as well as an espresso machine, grinder, refrigerator, water tanks, and coffee making supplies like cups, lids, syrups, milk and….of course, coffee beans! If you are ready to donate now, we would so appreciate it--just skip to the "donate now" button. If you'd like to learn more, please keep reading below or check out our website at Akasha Coffee.

(Our coffee cart will look like the design above but with our Akasha Coffee logo!)

As a non-speaking adult with autism, there are many challenges for Ian being able to work or hold a job successfully, but it is definitely possible and something that he wants. It just requires more assistance, including communication and job skill support. That is where I come in! I have worked with Ian for 7+ years to help him with his communication—most of you know that he uses an alphabet letterboard to communicate and that I’ve been his teacher and partner in this method. I’ve also helped Ian work on various life skills and purposeful activities so he can have greater autonomy and control over his life choices. This coffee cart idea was born out of taking something we love and turning it into a means for purposeful work and income for Ian.

Beyond creating this business for Ian and I to run together, we also have a future vision of being able to hire, train and support other individuals with autism or other disabilities. This could translate into growing the business to running multiple coffee carts and employing more workers. Another possibility is roasting and selling our own coffee beans and having a percentage of sales donated to our autism community. Ultimately, we've even talked about running a brick-and-mortar coffee shop of our own.

We dream big, but have to start somewhere! And this little coffee cart feels like just the sweet spot to begin building the dream. If you are inspired by our story, please donate any amount, no matter how small! Each dollar is an energetic nod to our venture and, for us, will make you a piece of this special project.

For updates and to follow our journey, please check out our website at Akasha Coffee (akashacoffee.com) .