Better Together

As Coral Reef has developed, our team has learned that resilience and passion are some of our best qualities, which keep us moving forward. As Tom Blower mentioned in his recent interview, what he is most proud of, is the Coral Reef team’s perseverance. Each triumph strengthens the Coral Reef team, and there is great joy at the crossing of both big and small milestones.

Something else we have learned in this process, is that you most certainly cannot do it alone. Community and support is critical to bringing the Coral Reef vision to life. 

With that in mind, we want to take this month's blog to acknowledge some of the businesses in our community who have a similar vision to Coral Reef, and have successfully brought that vision to life in recent years.

The Be Cafe is a coffee shop cafe in Grand Rapids that employs adults with special needs to be Baristas or as they coined the name for their team as “Be-ristas”, in their local store. Be Cafe started with one location in Ada township in 2019, and just recently launched its third location right in the heart of East Grand Rapids! This business offers such a fun and unique way to meet the needs of a community, which is why it has garnered such enthusiastic support. If you're looking to enjoy a coffee with a purpose, BE sure to check out The Be Cafe! 

https://www.becafe.org/

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Another awesome organization local to the Grand Rapids area, is the Equest Center: https://equestcenter.org/ 

One thing to know about Connie, the founder of Coral Reef, is that she is an avid lover of horses. When she isn’t diligently working on bringing the Coral Reef vision to life, she is most likely out tending to her horses (and other local wildlife). The Equest Center specializes in equine-based therapy to physically, mentally and socially challenged individuals. Their unique program integrates social, academic and physical skills, while using the horse as a catalyst.

The mission of these organizations, as well as Coral Reef, is simple –  to improve the quality of life by allowing adults with special needs to function in our society like anybody else. The goal is for them to enjoy the opportunity to engage with their community, learn valuable life skills, successfully take on responsibility and much more.

We are grateful to be in a community that has businesses with similar goals to Coral Reef, and  that have gone before us to help pave the way.

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