Today we’d like to introduce you to Mark Titmas.
Hi Mark, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My wife, Jodi Titmas, is a Special Education Teacher at Lebanon High School. Jodi recognized a trend that many of her ex-students were not active socially or professionally. The individuals are Developmentally Disabled and high enough functioning to want to be gainfully employed but not high enough functioning without further employment training to hold community employment. Coffee Caravan started as a coffee trailer in 2019 with two DD employees and myself. In 2021, we took the covid pandemic as a time to build out a brick-and-mortar coffee shop and now we have 13 DD workers and four staff, not including myself. We are opening a second location in Franklin Ohio in January 2024. I currently have a waiting list for DD individuals that is almost two years old. The only way for Coffee Caravan can get to our waiting list and work with more individuals is to expand sites.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Coffee Caravan is a mission-based business. Our purpose is not just to sell great coffee but to offer opportunities to Developmentally Disabled individuals. While it has not been a totally smooth ride, I can honestly say God has provided everything we need. We are blessed with staff that is way more talented than we deserve, and every time we have a need it is met with ease. Coffee Caravan struggled during Covid like every small business but came out the other side moving from a coffee trailer to a brick-and-mortar, which has been an incredible upgrade.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next, you can tell us a bit more about your business.
Coffee Caravan is a Vocational Program that employees DD individuals in a fully functioning coffee shop. Our goal is to provide a high-end product while also giving opportunities to DD employees. When I started Coffee Caravan, my goal was teach employment skills but what has happened is so much larger. The reality of what we see in our little portion of the world is a culture change where the general public has become has become more integrated with our DD individuals and vice versa. What I experience is that when a customer first visits Coffee Caravan they just want to talk to me. When customers visit multiple times, I am no longer important, and they just want to deal with my people. This change in people’s perspective is something we didn’t intend but is as important as anything else we accomplish. Community integration adds to our employee’s self-worth. We an ever-growing amount of pride in our employees for where they work and their place in society.
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
Coffee Caravan has been truly blessed. I cannot say we haven’t some issues, but every time we have a need, that need is met with little or no effort. Our mission-based business seems to be a beacon for people that want to assist.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @coffeecaravan_
- Facebook: Coffee Caravan Ohio
