“I want to have a job like you.”
French entrepreneur Yann Bucaille-Lacrezac remembers the day he met Theodore, a young boy on the autism spectrum, during a cruise for an organization he created for those with special needs.
“He came to me and he said, ‘I heard that you are a boss, can you give me a job?’” Bucaille-Lacrezac told The Post.
When Yann told Theodore he didn’t have a job, the boy responded, “No, you don’t understand. I know I have a disability that can be useful. I want to have a job like you.”
Yann began to realize that the best charity wasn’t simply to take these people on a boat.
That memory led Bucaille-Lacrezac to open Café Joyeux, a French family of inclusive café-restaurants that solely recruits individuals with cognitive and intellectual disabilities, giving opportunities to those who otherwise might not have them.
“They are capable. We want to show to the world that it’s possible,” he told The Post. “It’s to have them be part of society, be part of the game, have a role to play.”
The Upper East Side cafe opened its doors on Thursday — a symbolic day as it also happens to be World Down Syndrome Day.
Over 7 million Americans have mental or cognitive disabilities, and 80% of them are unemployed — but Yann hopes to change that.
For most of the crew, this is their first job. But now, they’ve gained independence and learned to commute on public transport. Some were able to get their first apartments.
An employee named Troy Providenti told The Post that all workers are trained for all jobs including cashiers, servers, baristas and dishwashers.
“It’s the best way for them to improve,” Yann explained. “What counts for them is the human impact. We want them to grow.”
General manager Shray Campbell has 15 years of experience but shared that this job is different because everyone is “extremely grateful” to be there.
“With these employees, they want to work so hard,” she said. “So you want to help them and we always make new goals for them so they’re learning new things.”
“They deserve high ambition. They deserve quality. They deserve the best,” Yann added.
The ultimate goal is to shift society’s perspective on disabilities — and Yann believes the Big Apple is the place to do that.
“New York is the city of success, the city of pride, the city of diversity,” he said, adding that many different people come in for coffee, and “we can prove to them that it’s possible.”
“It’s a joy for them to have a job, for them to prove that they exist.”