By Helen Velissaris
Keysborough single mum Ilana Offman knew she had to do something to ensure her five-year-old’s future.
Diagnosed with autism, ADHD and a sensory processing disorder, young Austin was at the front of Ilana’s mind when she opened Cafe Noir in Kirkham Road West, Keysborough.
She quit her job, threw all her savings at the cafe and signed the lease with two goals in mind.
“Number one I wanted a business and a job that I could provide a good life for my kids,” she said.
“I also thought it was a good way to make sure that Austin over time would always be able to get into sustained employment.”
She’s trying to change the perceived notions of workers with special needs and make sure they’re not overlooked.
Her cafe opened on 28 August and Ilana has already hired 20-year-old autistic kitchen hand Justin Burton.
Justin has excelled at keeping things neat, clean and organised and has tried his hand at making pies and serving customers.
“One of the new employees was, unfortunately, unwell and I had to run dishes down, it was fun,” he said.
A stickler for not breaking the rules, Justin has been known to time his breaks to the minute to make sure he’s not wasting company time.
“Usually on my break I’d take my own lunch and they kept advising me ‘stop taking your lunch, you can have stuff on the menu’,” he said, adding his favourite meal is a burger.
Ilana has been very impressed with Justin’s work and has been advocating for more local business to take on workers with special needs.
Already a business in the industrial estate has hired a personal assistant with special needs after seeing Justin’s work ethic.
Ilana wants people with special needs to not be treated differently and be paid a normal wage.
Justin said he was working nine hour shifts for a supermarket which was paying him $10 a day because he was doing “work experience”.
His autism helped him pack shelves twice as quick as the other employees.
“You can do the same job as everybody else and that piece of paper of disability warrants you $5 a day?
“No, I can’t fathom how that can exist.”
Ilana is making sure to pay Justin the usual rate for a kitchen hand and expects that to rise as his experience grows.
“People just don’t realise how much worth they actually have,” she said.
“They consider it a burden to try and train them they just don’t realise it that special needs people are going to work so much harder for you and they’re going to be so much more dedicated to you because they’ve got an opportunity.”
She hopes that if the cafe does well she will be able to hire another worker with special needs and eventually open more cafes with at least two special needs workers in every shop.
Cafe Noir is open from 6am to 2.30pm and is at 2 Kirkham Road West, Keysborough.
