E-town entrepreneur combines caring and coffee for adults with disabilities

Elizabethtown College‘s Lenea DeTore has long dreamed of opening a non-profit coffee shop for adults with disabilities.  

The 2021 undergraduate and current grad student at E-town College is making that dream come true. She’s created The Caring Cup to provide meaningful employment for adults with disabilities.  

“I have always admired coffee shops because they are a great place to connect and visit with others in your community and I love the idea of a deeply connected community,” DeTore said. “It wasn’t until later when going on vacation with my family in Florida that I experienced a coffee shop run by adults with disabilities, and I immediately knew this was something I had to do.”  

As an E-town College Occupational Therapy (OT) alumna and practicing pediatric occupational therapist, Detore has seen firsthand the limited opportunities available to adults with disabilities once they have aged out of school-based services. She seeks to close that gap with The Caring Cup.  

“Growing up in an Amish-Mennonite community I have a very large family,” said DeTore. “Of my 126 cousins on my mother’s side alone, I grew up with experience and a deep knowledge of individuals with disabilities and loved getting to interact with my cousins and learn what made them unique and special. My cultural background also instilled in me values such as the importance of community and helping one another that led me to where I am today. I knew from the start that this was something my community would support.”  

For as long as she can remember, Detore has wanted to work in a career that benefits others. But it wasn’t until her grandmother became ill that DeTore knew she wanted to be an occupational therapist.  

Enter E-town College.  

“Elizabethtown College was then a no brainer because of their expediated five-year OT program that was highly recommended,” DeTore said. “My sister-in law attended E-town for occupational therapy and loved it along with my brother who attended E-town for business.  

“I had the opportunity of visiting E-town to watch my brother play tennis and perform in phalanx and from the start, E-town was a place that felt like home. Fast forward a couple years and I am back at E-town for my doctorate specializing in non-profit leadership and interdisciplinary autism support. 

“Choosing to go back to E-town for my after-graduate program was an obvious choice not only because of the various concentration options or the convenience of asynchronous classes, or even the affordability, but because of the sense of community and faculty members that truly made E-town a second home.”  

Working as an occupational therapist increased DeTore’s interest in starting her own non-profit coffee shop. It has also helped prepare her for the challenges of entrepreneurship.  

“My career as an occupational therapist only heightened my drive to start The Caring Cup,” said DeTore. “I love working with children with special abilities and also getting to know their families. I truly feel as though I became a part of their team when I get to work with them. However, this makes saying goodbye even harder. I realized that at the age of 21, children with disabilities age out of a lot of support groups such as day care, summer camp, school, and more. 

“Someone once put it as ‘the school bus stops coming, and the child is forgotten.’ However, parents still need to go to work and require supervision and support for their adults. I soon realized that I not only have the community support but also the skill set required to create a safe place where adults with disabilities and their families can feel comfortable to not only be themselves but to thrive and learn new life skills that can be transferred to other areas of life.”  

DeTore knows what it takes to be a leader. At E-town College, she served as Class Vice President, Peer Mentor, and captain of the Women’s Tennis team. She’s come full circle as a student, returning to E-town to as a student in the college’s School of Graduate and Professional Studies to earn a Graduate Certificate in Non-Profit Leadership.  

The latter is important, DeTore said, since as an occupational therapist she is aware of the behaviors and challenges involved in employing adults with disabilities but is not familiar with the business concepts. She said the certification in non-profit leadership can teach her the business and finance side of her venture, including grant writing, scheduling, and budgeting.  

DeTore plans to use her E-town education to create an environment at The Caring Cup that provides opportunities for all employees to be successful. Her non-profit’s mission, she said, is that “everyone is capable of living a life full of purpose, talent, and integration within society if given the chance and the tools to succeed.”  

DeTore’s idea for The Caring Cup first took shape three years ago when she learned about available land in Intercourse, Pa., close to The Clinic for Special Children and The Community Care Center. The location evolved into a developing campus for children and adults with disabilities, and with an interest from the Community Care Center’s adult day program in partnering, DeTore’s vision for The Caring Cup began to be realized.  

People in the community approached her and spoke of relatives and friends with disabilities who were eager for an opportunity like The Caring Cup. That was when DeTore realized she had community support.  

The full extent of that support was evident this spring, when The Caring Cup’s first major fundraiser welcomed more than 600 attendees, three times the expectations. Nearly $80,000 was raised, almost triple the goal of $30,000. DeTore and her partners are starting the permitting process with expectations of opening in spring 2027.   

DeTore has met with donors, architects interested in working with nonprofits, and a local coffee roaster seeking collaboration. Attracting and working with non-profits and donors, along with putting together her team at The Caring Cup, has proven to be a memorable experience for DeTore.  

“I have been incredibly blessed with an amazing board of directors and a great network of individuals and non-profits,” said DeTore. “I feel like once you start networking you can’t stop. Every executive director I have met with has put me in contact with at least two or three others and then it spirals from there. I have received so much amazing support and advice from other non-profits and businesses in the area.  

“Everyone is willing to share their dos and don’ts to avoid making the same errors they may have made early on. I have also been fortunate enough to meet with other coffee shops nearby who are willing to give me tours and advice on which pieces of equipment may be more manageable for the future employees at The Caring Cup. We even had one person offer to assist with the training process when we are ready for that step.”