Brewing delight

TIFFIN — The Seneca County Board of Developmental Disabilities partners with Seneca Re-ad Industries, a non-profit organization, to provide adult services. One way the organizations partner together is through Corner Delights in the Mercy Health — Tiffin Hospital. Corner Delights, also known to locals as the Bistro, employs several local people with developmental disabilities. The shop offers coffee, sandwiches and other types of drinks. Corner Delights serves Starbucks coffee and is open to the public. Working at Corner Delights provides individuals the opportunity to develop job skills and certifications to work in the community. Susan and Sean are two individuals who have received training and certifications while earning a paycheck and socializing with their regulars. According to Sean and Susan's supervisor, Theresa, they have received food safety training, which is the same training that any person in the restaurant business would receive. Theresa also said that she works to promote positive work skills, demonstrate how to work with the public and provide training to individuals. Sean said his favorite part of the job is making sandwiches. However, he has also created his own coffee creation, the Sean Special. "My favorite drink is the peanut butter drink," he said. "It's peanut butter, mocha, cream and ice. It's blended with real peanut butter." Sean said "It feels great" now that he is making managerial decisions. He shared that he was among the first people asked to work at Corner Delights. Susan has been at Corner Delights for about 9 years. "All the people around here are really nice," she said. "I get to make friends with the people I see every day." Susan said she doesn't drink coffee, so she isn't sure what her favorite drink is. "They both have had the chance to learn skills that help them out in the community," Theresa said. "They're learning not only food safety, but the first in, first out rule, anything that they would be doing in a restaurant setting." Individuals working at Corner Delights start with learning how to run the cash register and then learn how to make drinks and food. They also have certain responsibilities each day they come in, such as rotating stock and keeping track of what needs to be replenished.