Lindsay Wrege is only a first-year in the College of Engineering at NC State, but she is already making her mark here on campus. Find her next semester at her pop-up shop, 321 Coffee, where the operation will be run by a staff with special needs and the experience will go beyond just coffee.
Bitty & Beau’s Coffee, a coffee shop founded and run by the mother of two children with special needs, is Wrege’s source of inspiration. Amy Wright opened this coffee shop in Wilmington last year after learning that nearly 70 percent of special needs adults do not have work opportunities, and 321 Coffee will be modeled after Bitty & Beau’s in the endeavor to fix this problem. Wrege was touched after just one visit there and wanted to bring a similar shop to NC State.
“I’ve grown up with the special needs community,” Wrege said. “I’d say that most people do not have that interaction, so what I really liked about Bitty & Beau’s was it was a really neat spot for the community to come in and interact with the special needs community.”
Wrege said that she transferred schools when she was in the third grade, and the transition was difficult. Wrege said that the first friends she made at her new school had special needs, and that they went on to do everything together. They played on the playground, worked on science projects and enjoyed all the aspects of growing up together.
“They are some of the nicest and happiest and most supportive people that I have ever been with,” Wrege said. “They definitely shaped me for who I am.”
Because Wrege recognized the value of her friends, she brought the idea of 321 Coffee to NC State faculty as soon as she saw the need of more work opportunities — both for her friends and people in their community. The faculty was supportive and suggested she solicit the help of a team.
“There’s four of us on the team,” Wrege said. “We’re all kind of figuring out how to do this together.”
Hannah Cooper, a first-year studying marine sciences, runs the shop’s social media presence. Odai Mansour is a second-year studying life sciences and has a role in the budgeting and monetary aspects of the shop. There is also Elise Romola, a second-year studying management, who is responsible for structuring the shop’s business model.
“I’m a business major, so Lindsay reached out to me because I would have a perspective of the organization from a business standpoint,” Romola said. “I’m so grateful that Lindsay believed I could be an asset to the team.”
Wrege said Romola thought up aspects of their business model that she herself would never have thought of. Romola was the team member that laid out marketing elements like a logo and slogan.
“I knew that this wasn’t just going to be a fun club that meets once a month, but rather this would be an organization that can positively impact the community,” Romola said. “I’d be able to help put together a model of how our organization should be set up and how it should function.”
321 Coffee is named after the fact that people with Down syndrome, one of the disabilities that the shop hopes to raise awareness about, have a third copy of the 21st chromosome. Their slogan is “blending communities,” a nod to the desired interaction between the NC State and the special needs communities.
“Our idea behind that is bringing the special needs community to the NC State community,” Wrege said. “Like, giving the special needs community a college experience and providing NC State an opportunity to interact with and learn from the special needs community.”
Wrege hopes that the shop will not just be frequented by students, but the larger Raleigh and Cary communities as well.
“What I really liked about Bitty & Beau’s was just so many people came,” Wrege said. “Families will come in [to the shop]. Parents with special needs kids talk about how seeing the people at Bitty & Beau’s working and doing really well gives them hope for what’s to come for their children. I hope we can provide to different families around Raleigh.”
321 Coffee is still in the planning stages of their organization. This semester has been focused on drawing a team, drafting a proof of concept and raising money through various benefactors. Wrege said that their coffee shop will most likely open the week after spring break in the Polk Hall courtyard. With enough support, this pop-up might even become a permanent part of NC State’s campus.
Wrege and her team hope to have booths at events like the Unified Rivalry Game and the Abilities Tennis tournament to draw more volunteers and support. They also have a GoFundMe page for monetary donations.
“Any support is awesome,” Wrege said. “And [in the spring] we’d love for people to come by the shop and not just grab a coffee and run, but to stay and talk because that’s really the goal of the shop.”
For students that are interested in helping out, Wrege is reachable both on NC State’s Get Involved website under 321 Coffee and through her personal email at lfwrege@ncsu.edu.
