‘Pop-up restaurant’ serves lunch with confidence, life experience on the side for area students 

Lacy Mitchell, Special to the SRC, lacy.mitchell@myersdavis.com

Merriam-Webster defines “limit” as something that bounds, restrains, or confines. 

At Limitless Café, a summer “pop-up” restaurant that opens to the public Tuesday, June 24, in Batesville, it’s about surpassing any limitations for the students involved, all while strengthening the ties that can positively bind schools, students, as well as businesses and communities, all wanting to work together for a greater good. 

During the summer months, at Myers-Davis Life Coaching and Disability Services, that “greater good” can also look a lot like food – a way to fill up the tummy all while filling students with confidence and highlighting the company’s mission to build authentic relationships through support and inspiration while aiming to “do as much good as possible, for as many as possible, and do no harm at all.” 

Limitless Café is one way Myers-Davis has put such plans into action as part of its Pre-Employment Transitions Services (Pre-ETS) program.

Welcoming the dozens of students to what will be their place of work the next six to seven weeks, Dr. Edward “Doc” Myers, who founded the company with Angela Davis in 2012, on the program’s first day earlier this month asked students what they hoped to gain in the program, to which “patience,” “cooking” and “team building” were among the responses. 

Myers, impressed, reminded the teenagers that the organization is also here to offer support, encouragement and positivity all while providing an inclusive environment for hands-on learning, customer interaction and teamwork.  “We are safe place here, with no judgement. … Myers-Davis exists because of you,” he said.

Program puts ideas into action with work-based learning project

Pre-ETS is a three-year program for high school sophomores, juniors and seniors operated through Arkansas Rehabilitation Services (ARS). The class-based program focuses on career-to-work education where this year, some 160 students received class credit toward graduation. Classes are taken during school hours, every day during the school week, for one or two class periods based on each high school’s needs.

To qualify, students must have a 504 Plan, Individualized Education Program (IEP); or a documented medical diagnosis, such as diabetes, anxiety, depression, ADHD, Crohn’s disease, or any diagnosis that may hinder them.

Currently, 13 school districts participate in the pre-ETS program: Cave City, Cedar Ridge, Concord, Highland, Hillcrest, Izard County Consolidated, Mammoth Spring, Midland, Melbourne, Mountain View, Pangburn, Rose Bud and White County Central. 

Pre-ETS, however, doesn’t end just because the school year does. Because of its partnership with ARS and thanks to many community partners, Limitless Café and Limitless Press during the summer offers up to 45 students more than just experience, but a paycheck, work of up to 20 hours a week, as well as potential hiring by local businesses. 

That’s where members of the community can show their support: by choosing to have lunch here.

Open to the public 

Limitless Café is certified by the Arkansas Department of Health and open to the public from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, June 24 through July 31, serving grilled chicken salads and wraps daily as well as rotating plate-style lunches like Mexican chicken, spaghetti with meat sauce, enchiladas and loaded baked potatoes, among them. 

Meals are $11.99, and fresh-made desserts can be purchased in addition.  

The address is 200 Warrior Road, Batesville, near the Independence County Fairgrounds, and is located inside the North Heights Church of Christ fellowship hall. Parking and entry can be accessed at the hall’s east side.

For Charity White, pre-employment transitions services director at Myers-Davis, it’s a good program serving good people that in turn helps with good things being done in the community with thanks to area businesses.

“We offer summer work experience for students in all of the districts, but Limitless Café is the flagship,” added Alexandra McClain, who helps with the summer program for Myers-Davis. 

“Students learn the restaurant business front to back and are given the opportunity to earn their ServSafe certification. We also partner with local business in Batesville and communities from Mammoth Spring to Rose Bud to provide part-time help through the summer. Myers-Davis through ARS covers student wages so the small business owner is helped as well,” she said, noting how preschools, bakeries, museums are some of the businesses in the past that have hired students who are part of the program.

Such a program, they say, involves “thinking outside the box” and is reason why Myers-Davis stands apart, according to McClain and White. It’s also why program leaders were invited to Washington, D.C. earlier this month to discuss with peers throughout the nation the “how” and “why” for what they deem success.

White said this is especially true in such rural areas, which “normally, don’t have a lot of the job or business opportunities.”

As part of the almost two-month summer program, students not only hear from area business leaders, attend Batesville’s business expo as well as the county fair, but go through training as it relates to the restaurant business, including duties in janitorial service, business/clerical, retail, and food preparation/service, all while being in a safe environment, physically, mentally, and emotionally to learn and work. 

They also earn a paycheck. 

Transportation to and from the Limitless Café and Limitless Press for students is also provided by Myers Davis, as organizers said they understand this can be a barrier for those who might want to participate but don’t have a way to attend.

“And we are so blessed that the church allows us the use of this building; not only that, but it also includes commercial-grade equipment that students learn on and use,” McClain added. 

White agreed, noting the dishwashing equipment as one example. 

“It’s not like washing your dishes at home,” she said, noting that because students are taught how to use this equipment, this is a transferable skill they can use as experience if they want to pursue such a career.  “There are students I wouldn’t have a problem sending out and that I have complete confidence in that they would know how to work the equipment on their own.”

Planning menus and cooking the dishes are just part of the experience, according to White, who has been part of the Pre-Employment Transitions Services program since the 2018-19 school year and helped come up with the concept for Limitless Café three years ago. 

“Watching them get that first paycheck and immediately wanting to help someone else, their family, another student,” is something White said almost brings her to tears.

Seeing how students develop their confidence in ways they may not have thought possible is also a blessing, and she encourages the public to support the students by coming to the café as customers.

“It’s one thing for them to cook for office staff of Myers-Davis, or us, as many of us do come here to eat during our lunch break this time of year, but that’s like cooking for your family,” White said. “To cook for people who they may not know fills them with such a sense of pride and shows them how capable they are, and they want an opportunity to show that. It makes it a little more special.”

She said the café is one she thinks would match the quality of many popular establishments in the area. The experience, however, is one White thinks patrons will leave from not only with a full stomach, but a full heart, feeling more blessed than when they walked in. 

“It’s a win for us, the staff; it’s a win those who come in as customers; and it’s a win especially for the students.”

“I have failed to come across someone since the café has opened each summer who hasn’t expressed much the same sentiment,” White said, noting how people become repeat customers. “No one, if ever, comes in just once. They just come back.” 

Limitless Press, putting art to work

Cody Scrivner, creative services director, will be helping lead the Limitless Press where students will learn about screen-printing and then try their hands at the art, completing some T-shirt orders for area businesses and people in the community. 

Scrivner, once a school art teacher, said he enjoys helping the teens discover there’s more to art than just being a teacher and that’s partly why he has returned to the summer program. Originally from Batesville, Scrivner said he never knew at their age “what there was out there” when it came to art. 

“I love reaching out and doing art projects with the kids,” From teaching to tattoo artistry, “there’s hundreds of different things you can do with the hundreds of different creative skills out there,” Scrivner said. “It’s about prepping kids for job fields and helping them gain that experience.”

After all, experience is key when most anyone is looking for a job, and at Myers-Davis Life Coaching and Disability Services, experience is one thing they find important for all students to receive, according to White.

By June, students who are referred to the program by their schoolteachers, counselors or even former participants and want to be part of Limitless Café or Limitless Press already know many of their teachers, like White, or even classmates and siblings, making what might be an unfamiliar and scary opportunity for some teenagers more comforting.  

Students overcome fears, anxiety 

Misty Gilmore is in her third year working with the program and said watching students who first come in shy and intimidated but leave with more confidence and friendships is reason why she continues to help as a leader. 

“It’s about equality for all students, no matter their capability or circumstance. It’s giving them a chance to show what they can do and not be afraid,” Gilmore said, noting that while the skills that students learn are those that can help them find jobs, they are also ones (cooking, cleaning, counting change, how to fill water pitchers for serving, folding laundry, etc.) that can help at home. 

Tasks they might never learn if not for programs like Pre-ETS, Limitless Café or Limitless Press, she said. 

Seventeen-year-old Midland High School student Addy Rodriguez is in her second year of the program after “having fun” and making friends last year with others, like Julia Hudson, also 17 and a student at Concord. The two have remained in touch throughout the year since. 

However, Hudson said participating has helped her confidence. “I had really bad social anxiety before this,” she said, recalling last year. “Plus, it’s fun to get out of the house.” 

Meanwhile, Heather Burns of Judsonia whose son, Hunter Burns, is participating in his first year said she has been impressed “with the care and attention” put into the program and “the people; you can tell who really want to see students succeed and who works to really answer this call.”  

As a private chef and baker, Burns said she knows the importance of such skills that make a good employee and is excited that Hunter wanted to take the opportunity, despite having just graduated high school in May and turning 18 earlier this month. 

For Hunter, now is not the time to slack or relax, but a time he hopes to gain some of the life skills he thinks he needs to be viable to potential employers. 

Finding a job for anyone without experience, not just students, can be a limiting factor when it’s often a job someone needs to gain experience in the first place. By Myers-Davis giving experience, students gain experience, and Myers-Davis is helping to change what might be a roadblock for students, said Hunter. “It definitely makes a difference.”

A future for the better 

For Concord High School Principal Dr. Corey Throckmorton, the partnership with Myers-Davis is one that has proven worthwhile for his district.

“We are proud to partner with Myers-Davis because the services and experiences provided to participants reinforce and enhance the value of each individual and fosters flourishing through participation in real-world settings that propel our students into a future of success,” said Throckmorton. 

“I am truly a huge supporter of Myers-Davis and what the company does to impact our world.”

Building budgets

As a first-time participant, Anthony Casey didn’t know if he would be accepted into the program due to a learning disability but was excited when he discovered he was, he said. 

Casey is looking forward to a chance at job shadowing, learning about careers related to art, and how to budget and manage finances, since he and the other students will be earning minimum wage.  

Casey said he has worked before but didn’t manage his money well when that first paycheck arrived. It didn’t take long to realize the importance of saving and he hopes to learn how to be better about it and spend wisely thanks to the summer program.

“It’s teaching you how to be an adult before you have to be an adult.”

For more information about Limitless Café and Limited Press, and Pre-Employment Transitions Services (Pre-ETS), call White at 870-307-9926, or visit www.myersdavis.com to learn about other programs that Myers-Davis Life Coaching and Disability Services offers.

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