The D.I.S.H Foundation was initially registered in October 2019 but the idea started much earlier. One morning back in 2017, Suzanne (our Board President) and her son, Kaden, were cooking breakfast. She was showing him how to cook eggs, make the pancake batter and pour it in the pan. Kaden had been showing an interest in being able to make his own meals. He would wake before the rest of the family on the weekends to make breakfast, but his parents wanted to make sure he could prepare a meal safely first. As they were cooking Kaden turned to his mom and said, “Mom? Can I do this?” She said, “You mean, when you’re older, as a job?” and Kaden replied, “YES! I want to cook!” He was so excited at the notion of being a chef, he was jumping up and down in the kitchen and couldn’t contain his excitement. Suzanne, previously owning a café, knew that margins are thin at cafes and its quite fast paced. She began to brainstorm how she could help make this a possibility for Kaden and who she could talk to about giving him a job. The reality is, it is quite difficult for individuals with IDD to find employment. The more she thought about it, the stronger this idea became until she knew it was the answer. She would start a café and a foundation to employ Kaden - and others like him with different abilities. And so, the D.I.S.H Foundation was born!