The Reconnect Cafe and Apparel Shop

The Reconnect Cafe and Apparel Shop is a business that provides hands-on, direct on-the-job training for our youth partners. The Reconnect Cafe, first opened in Bedford Stuyvesant in 2013, was reopened after COVID in 2021 in its new location at Thomas Berry Place in Jamaica, Queens. In our new cafe, we also sell apparel and accessories created in the Reconnect Graphics Shop, which is located on the same premises. Our Cafe is a full-service coffee and beverage shop that offers a range of coffee brew options, all of which are made from our specially-sourced Reconnect gourmet coffee beans.


Our youth partners are 18-24 year old men who come to us from our local surrounding communities and through referrals with other social service providers. For a majority of our youth partners, the job with us is their first work experience; some have previously held short-term entry level jobs. 


We employ our youth partners for three months, providing them direct on the job training and supervision. 


Efrain Hernandez, Reconnect’s co-founder, opened our first cafe in 2013, and currently leads our cafe services at Thomas Berry Place. Edwin Lachapelle, a coffee service veteran who is a former Reconnect participant, provides the hands-on training needed for our youth partners to obtain employment in the industry.


Our program prepares our youth partners to be ready for jobs as baristas in cafe settings, as well as for other customer service roles in food retail. We provide hands-on training focusing on both the essential and technical skills cafe employers need from entry-level applicants.

  • •Time Management/Reliability

    •Ability to listen carefully and follow instructions carefully

    •Ability to work independently

    •Ability to manage several tasks simultaneously

    •Customer Service and hospitality

    •Successful relations with authority figures

    •Effective team work/being an effective team member

    •Critical thinking/problem solving

  • •Ability to “dial up” and calibrate espresso machines in preparation for coffee service

    •Portion control and units of measure

    •Ensuring flavor consistencies through proper weighing/taring and following preparation formulas

    •Ability to make espressos, cappuccinos, lattes, Americanos and other common cafe coffee items

    •Specialized equipment cleaning and sanitation

    •Ability to fulfill orders accurately and in a timely manner

    •Quality control/assurance

    •Basic marketing and promotion of the Cafe product lines

    •Basic food service skills (we also prepare trainees to take the NYC Food Handler’s License)

Our youth partners are also trained to adjust to the common conditions in a cafe environment: The job is physical in nature, involves repetition, standing on one’s feet, and meeting the physical demands of operating behind the counter service.