New Horizons Snack Shop Offers Snacks and a Smile

New Horizons Snack Shop Barista Brittany Green, center, pours a cup of morning coffee for a customer while Employment Support Professional Gabrielle Miller, right, looks on.

Brittany Green is learning valuable job skills as well as how to efficiently run a business. All the while, making friends along the way.

Green, along with Courtney Hartman, are the staff at New Horizons Snack Shop (NHSS), a Monarch program through the New Horizons Enterprises day program for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) located in Mocksville.

NHHS is located within the Davie County Government Center, home to the Davie County Sheriff’s Department and Health and Human Services in addition to other government offices. NHSS occupies a retail location off the Center’s main entrance offering customers a quick snack, coffee, beverage, popcorn, candy selection or baked good.

Employment Support Professional Gabrielle Miller, who assists baristas Green and Hartman as a job coach, has seen positive changes in them since NHHS opened last summer. “They are taking on more accountability and responsibilities, and growing. They manage obstacles more independently as well as taking initiative. We communicate well and talk about any issues,” she said of collaborating with the staff.

Working in the snack shop has helped improve communication, math and people skills for both employees, Miller says.

Site Manager Mark Scott has also seen positive improvements, specifically in Green watching her confidence grow in a few months’ time: “Her confidence has improved and she is now working independently. I am amazed at how many people she has met and knows at the Center.”

Rula Anas, who works in the county Health Department, stopped by to get a morning snack and commented how much she appreciates the staff’s friendly service and how they have excelled since beginning to work. “I try to support them as much as I can and send my co-workers their way. That staff is so sweet,” she says.

Green or Hartman, depending on who is assigned to work, stock and wheel a small cart with a variety of snacks for a mid-morning run through the Center bringing refreshments to employees so they do not have to leave their desks. Green thoroughly enjoys this part of her job, stating that she has formed friendships and learned about the variety of jobs.

Green appreciates the experience she is gaining by working at NHSS and shares that she would like to find a job at a restaurant: “I am getting better and learning more every day, as well as meeting people.”

Miller said working with Green and Hartman as their job coach makes her accountable as well. “They have taught me so much about humility,” Miller shares. “If I correct their behavior, I need to walk the talk. They are not the only ones responsible for their success. I need to make sure they understand. When they feel successful, they have pride in their work.”

Click on the video below to find out more about New Horizons Snack Shop.