Grace Coffee + Cafe celebrates grand opening, welcomes hundreds to shop

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (KBSI) – “It’s just been a really, really good day.” 

This day being the grand opening for Grace Coffee + Café, and manager Blake Powell said Saturday was a good kind of hectic.

“It’s been just a little bit overwhelming, but that’s a good thing, overwhelming because we’ve had so many people out here,” he said. “Somebody told me at one point, they counted 800 people here to just celebrate what we’re doing.” 

And what they’re doing is helping folks with disabilities by giving them a chance to work in the coffee shop and breaking down barriers in the process. 

“Folks with disabilities, they can work, and they can do really, really good things,” Powell said. “They can excel, and that’s what we provide here. We provide that atmosphere and that environment where they can excel here, and they can show the community what they’re made of.” 

The line to get coffee, sandwiches, smoothies, and other refreshments nearly spilled out the door for virtually all four hours the shop was open, and I spoke with two customers who have both worked with people with disabilities. They are overjoyed to see something like this shop in Cape Girardeau.  

“I’m actually familiar with some of the employees here, and it’s for a good cause,” Cape Girardeau native Dani Dansby said. “It’s really awesome. Our community needs something like this and yeah, just happy to be here.” 

“Seeing this, it’s next level,” Jackson native Leah Hess said. “It’s really opening and giving everybody opportunities, equal opportunities.”