The Joyeux of working
UES cafe gives special-needs staff a purpose
“I want to have a job like you.” French entrepreneur Yann Bucaille-Lanrezac remembers the day he met Theodore, a young boy on the autism spectrum, during a boat trip for an organization he created for those with special needs.
“He came to me and he said, ‘I heard that you are a boss, can you give me a job?’ ” Bucaille-Lanrezac told The Post.
When Bucaille-Lanrezac told Theodore he didn’t have a job, the boy responded, “No, you don’t understand. I know I have a disability that can be useful. I want to have a job like you.”
Bucaille-Lanrezac began to realize the best charity wasn’t simply to take these people on a boat.
That memory led Bucaille-Lanrezac to open Café Joyeux, a French family of inclusive caférestaurants that solely recruits individuals with cognitive and intellectual disabilities, giving opportunities to those who otherwise might not have them.
“They are capable. We want to show to the world that it’s possible,” he told The Post. “It’s to have them be part of society, be part of the game, have a role to play.”
The Upper East Side cafe opened Thursday — a symbolic day as it also happens to be World Down Syndrome Day.
More than 7 million Americans have mental or cognitive disabilities, and 80% of them are unemployed — but Bucaille-Lanrezac hopes to change that.
For most of the crew, this is their first job. But now they’ve gained independence and learned to commute on public transportation. Some were able to get their first independent apartments.
“It’s the best way for them to improve,” Bucaille-Lanrezac explained. “What counts for them is the human impact. We want them to grow.”
General manager Shray Campbell has 15 years of experience but shared that this job is different because everyone is “extremely grateful” to be there.
“With these employees, they want to work so hard,” she said. “So you want to help them and we always make new goals for them so they’re learning new things.”
“They deserve high ambition. They deserve quality. They deserve the best,” Bucaille-Lanrezac added. “It’s a joy for them to have a job, for them to prove that they exist.”