{"id":20392,"date":"2025-08-19T13:12:17","date_gmt":"2025-08-19T17:12:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/?p=20392"},"modified":"2025-08-14T12:28:16","modified_gmt":"2025-08-14T16:28:16","slug":"elizabethtown-college-occupational-therapy-alumna-brews-up-inclusive-coffee-shop-to-empower-adults-with-disabilities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/2025\/08\/19\/elizabethtown-college-occupational-therapy-alumna-brews-up-inclusive-coffee-shop-to-empower-adults-with-disabilities\/","title":{"rendered":"Elizabethtown College Occupational Therapy Alumna Brews up Inclusive Coffee Shop to Empower Adults with Disabilities"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lenea DeTore \u201921 is turning a long-held dream into reality with the launch of <\/span>The Caring Cup<\/span><\/a> – a non-profit coffee shop created to provide meaningful employment for adults with disabilities.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As an <\/span>Elizabethtown College Occupational Therapy (OT)<\/span><\/a> alumna and practicing pediatric occupational therapist, Detore witnessed firsthand the limited opportunities available to adults with disabilities once they aged out of school-based services. The Caring Cup aims to close that gap.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always dreamed of starting a coffee shop for adults with disabilities, but never knew where to start,\u201d DeTore said. \u201cMy career as an Occupational Therapist only heightened that drive.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The idea began to take shape three years ago when DeTore was approached about a piece of land in Intercourse, Pa., near The Clinic for Special Children and The Community Care Center. The location quickly evolved into a developing campus for children and adults with disabilities. With interest from the Community Care Center\u2019s ad<\/span>ult day program in partnering, the vision f\"\"or The Caring Cup started to grow.<\/p>\n

From there, DeTore connected with architects eager to work with nonprofits, a local coffee roaster interested in collaboration, and generous donors who helped jumpstart the effort.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere were even people approaching me in the community telling me of a sister, uncle, or relative with a disability who would love an opportunity like this,\u201d DeTore said. \u201cThis was when I knew I had the community support.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

That support was on full display this past spring. The Caring Cup\u2019s first major fundraiser welcomed over 600 attendees, triple the expected turnout, raising nearly $80,000 and well surpassing their original goal of $30,000. DeTore and her partners are now beginning the permitting process with hopes to open in spring 2027.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

DeTore traces her pass<\/span>ion for leadership back to her days as an undergraduate at Etown, where she served as Class Vice President, Peer Mentor, and captain of the Women\u2019s Tennis team. Now a student in Etown\u2019s School of Graduate and Professional Studies<\/a>, she\u2019s come full circle by returning to her alma mater to pursue a Graduate Certificate in Non-Profit Leadership<\/a> and further deepen her impact through service-driven leadership.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs an occupational therapist, I am aware of the behaviors and challenges involved in employing adults with disabilities, however, I am not as familiar with the business concepts,\u201d DeTore said. \u201cThe certification in non-profit leadership can teach me the business and finance side of this adventure that I am not as familiar with, such as grant writing, scheduling, and budgeting.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

DeTore is excited to use her Etown education and skills to create an environment at the coffee shop that provides opportunities for all employees to be successful.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOur mission is that everyone is capable of living a life full of purpose, talent, and integration within society if given the chance and the tools to succeed,\u201d DeTore said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Follow along with the Caring Cup\u2019s progress on their <\/span>Instagram page.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lenea DeTore \u201921 is turning a long-held dream into reality with the launch of The Caring Cup – a non-profit coffee shop created to provide meaningful employment for adults with disabilities.\u00a0 As an Elizabethtown College Occupational Therapy (OT) alumna and practicing pediatric occupational therapist, Detore witnessed firsthand the limited opportunities available to adults with disabilities […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":157,"featured_media":20404,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1338,1339,775],"tags":[197,2535,1350,2536,2537,294],"class_list":["post-20392","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics-and-research","category-alumni","category-campus","tag-elizabethtown-college","tag-elizabethtown-college-occupational-therapy-ot","tag-etown","tag-etowns-school-of-graduate-and-professional-studies","tag-non-profit-leadership","tag-occupational-therapy","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20392","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/157"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20392"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20392\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20403,"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20392\/revisions\/20403"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20392"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20392"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20392"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}