SURPRISE, AZ — Spencer's Place, a pair of coffee shops in Surprise that employ mostly adults with special needs, has extra reason to smile today!
Karin York, who founded Spencer's Place in 2019, was recently honored with $15,000 from the Scripps Howard Fund as they honored people across the U.S doing amazing things and helping their communities in big ways.
Karin opened Spencer's Place after spending years as a special education teacher and realizing that her students would graduate and would have nowhere to go, and were not living up to their true potential.
Spencer's Place is named after Karin's own son, who has special needs.
One of Karin's longtime employees is Racquel Crosby, who ABC15's Nick Ciletti got to follow one day recently as she was getting ready to work at the location off Waddell Road.
"Just be true to yourself and be your own character inside," explains Racquel, who was full of advice - even before her morning cup of coffee - on the day we met.
"I get emotional because it brings me so much joy," she said.
It is a joy Racquel receives from seeing her dreams come true - getting to work at a job she loves, feeling like she is gaining independence, finding an environment where she is accepted for being her true self.
"She is like the most delightful light in my life," says Racquel about her boss, Karin. We know - few people would describe their bosses that way!
Racquel has worked at Spencer's Place for the past six years and is considered to be one of the "OG" employees.
"I do feel unstoppable here," she says, adding that working at Spencer's has given her a new sense of confidence she didn't find in previous jobs she worked.
ABC15 first interviewed Racquel in 2022.
"Spencer's Place has changed my life so much!" Racquel told us at the time.
"It was just laying on my heart so strongly, and I couldnt shake it," says Karin, about her goal to create a safe space for people with special needs to work, enjoy, and prosper.
In addition to the 23 employees with special needs, Karin says they also have ten employees without disabilities who serve as coaches - a partnership she says has been mutually beneficial.
"When I say lives are being changed...They are literally being changed," says Karin. "And that's not throwing words around lightly."
To learn more about Spencer's Place, to donate, and to support them, click here.
