Jeremiah inspires Johnson City cafe to serve employees and customers alike
By Bee Goodman
The environment in which a student thrives is different from one to another. For some children, like those with physical or mental disabilities, this is especially true. Educational settings are incredibly important for these individuals to build skills, but post-graduation can be a challenge, too.
Jennifer and Dr. Kevin Sweet, who are members of St. Mary Parish in Johnson City, were noticing their daughter Kate having an especially challenging time in public school. She is diagnosed with autism, has a genetic disorder, and suffers from seizures. At school, Kate was academically four years behind other students her age, which was overwhelming and caused her to endure panic attacks almost daily.
Like any good mother, Mrs. Sweet couldn’t stand to see her child go through this, so she enrolled Kate in Jeremiah School.
Jeremiah School is dedicated to providing a safe and comfortable learning environment for kids requiring more attention to thrive. Its mission is to help children with autism reach their full potential.
When Kate began classes at Jeremiah School, she immediately relaxed. “For the first time, I was actually seeing her make progress,” Mrs. Sweet shared. “Also, this was the first time she’d been able to make friends.”
“They’re (Jeremiah School) helping them (students) grow socially, they do volunteer work, they try to help them be a whole human being. And they are,” she added.
For the next few years Kate began to learn and grow in a way she’d never been able to before. But when she reached high school, the family was confronted with the future. The school explained that being an adult with autism could be challenging.
“They sat us down and said after you get out of here it’s not going to be easy. There’s no help for you once you’re an adult. So, whatever help you’re getting now, that’s it,” Mrs. Sweet remembered.
“Traditionally what happens is they ‘graduate to the sofa.’ That means there’s no place for them, so they just end up sitting at home,” she reflected.
Jeremiah Café owner Jennifer Sweet, center, and employees prepare the Johnson City restaurant for customers. (Photo Bee Goodman)
The Sweet family took a moment to see how capable these students are, and with accommodations they were able to excel. Mrs. Sweet wanted more for these students and was driven to help. This is when the Sweets reached out to the school’s executive director, Jo Cullen.
“My husband and I feel called to help. We want to provide some sort of employment for autism. And she (Ms. Cullen) said she’d been praying for this for so long.”
Together the Sweet family and Ms. Cullen looked at what kinds of jobs would help these students. This is where they decided to create a cafe. Before this meeting, the Sweet’s had never owned a business, and had only God’s call to follow.
They decided to create the cafe as a “place where they could have a bridge to adulthood.”
“We teach them how to work. We coach them and help them along. We really hope that we can watch them leave here and get another job, any job,” Mrs. Sweet said.
Jeremiah Café is a place for these graduating and current students, and before they leave Jeremiah School’s halls, they get assistance from the school to prepare for employment right away.
They also get hands-on learning from the Sweets’ restaurant. But the employment opportunity isn’t the only thing Jeremiah Café offers.
Mrs. Sweet remembers a statement shared from Ms. Cullen: “Autism is just a different way to be human.”
In addition to hiring the school’s graduates they also have current students come in once a week for a class in the kitchen. This helps them build skills that are not normally offered in schools.
While the locations share the name Jeremiah, and are partnered in every way except financially, the cafe is not named for its connection to the school. Inspiration for the cafe’s name is the Bible verse Jeremiah 29:11: “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Jeremiah Café seeks to create a space where all can enjoy a good bite to eat and a place to relax without extra pressure. It also creates a working environment for those who can’t get a job without accommodation. Some corporations have dedicated neurodiversity programs and aim to hire and support those who are neurodivergent.
The café also has a quiet sensory room for employees, so if they need a moment to relax there is a dedicated space just for that. The owners and managers squeeze into the back of the restaurant together so the extra room can be that dedicated space.
The restaurant is designed for those with various social and physical sensitivities in mind. It aims to create a cozy and inviting place for those diagnosed with autism. Virtually every person has been in an unforgettable setting with sights, sounds, and smells we’re sensitive to like walking into a Bath & Body Works store at Christmastime or attending a concert with 20,000 screaming fans. But for those with autism or other disorders that can cause external sensitivities, this is a daily occurrence and can easily become overwhelming, even more so in public places like loud and crowded restaurants.
Customers may think the cafe is just a quiet place for a cup of coffee. It is more. It’s also a thriving catering company that makes custom cakes for weddings, too.
Mrs. Sweet hopes to build the catering side of the business so they can take in even more students.
From August 2024 to now, the cafe has blossomed among its many blessings. The Johnson City community has shown love to the restaurant and its cause and was excited to celebrate the first anniversary of the cafe.
The cafe had a special celebration on Aug. 30 to mark its first anniversary. The joyous occasion welcomed the Jeremiah School and Johnson City communities.
The café serves as a lay ministry to assist men and women with autism in entering the workforce and learning skills to help them succeed on the job and in life. The cafe opened in August 2024 to bridge the gap for employees between school and the workforce while serving a variety of foods and drinks. (Photo Bee Goodman)
Prior to Jeremiah Café, the building was occupied by a nonprofit, pay-what-you-can restaurant called One Acre Café. When the restaurant closed, the owners left behind tables and chairs, pots and pans, and many kitchen appliances that the Sweets would be able to keep and use.
“We could’ve been serving the next day if we wanted to,” Mrs. Sweet said.
She shared how she had no prior experience in owning a business or operating a kitchen at this level.
“Basically, I became the hands and feet of the Lord. He would put the right person where I needed every step of the way. He led us to open it last year in August,” she said.
Upon walking through the door, a customer would have no idea the cafe had only been open for a year. The environment is comforting and controlled, much like a local coffee shop feels in a college town. The cafe has also become a popular spot for students at nearby East Tennessee State University.
“ETSU is in our back yard. We have students come in all the time with backpacks and laptops. It’s a good environment for them to work or have a study group. We want to support them, too.” Mrs. Sweet said.
In addition to the great food and friendly atmosphere they offer, the Sweets also host several community events like monthly meetups for adults with autism. While there aren’t many resources for students with autism, in adulthood there are even fewer. The cafe’s mission is to give real work experience and help build resumes for its employees. The Sweets hope the skills the café employees learn can be used elsewhere and show potential employers that autism doesn’t stop anyone from being able to work hard.
The staff at Jeremiah Café may have special accommodations, but that doesn’t mean they have no real job experience. They still go through an interview just like any job candidate would. They must fill out paperwork and undergo training just like any new employee would.
When she talks about her employees at the café, Mrs. Sweet smiles.
“They have such a good attitude. They really want to work. They really want to learn,” she said with a certain pride. “We were afraid because in a restaurant you have to switch gears, and that’s not something that typically people with autism are good at. But they’re learning to do it; they’re learning how to cope, switch gears when they need, and help when they need.”
Something special to note is that the skills the students and employees learn at the cafe don’t expire when they leave. As a cook, a cashier, or a waiter, the skills they learn and improve upon are valuable tools, giving them real experience to carry into another job. This is especially true of social skills.
In interview settings, employers want to see sociable job candidates who can communicate well, and that’s a hurdle many people with autism struggle to face. They can have all the physical skills they need for the job, but the initial interview often closes doors before they get a chance to work.
Jeremiah Café is careful to construct an environment to help employees learn the necessary social skills needed for the job.
Mrs. Sweet highlights one employee as an example.
“When she got here, she kept her head down and she couldn’t make eye contact. So, we put her in the back and soon she said she wanted to serve. So, we put her behind the counter to do drinks and cashier, and she’s doing great,” Mrs. Sweet shared.
Mrs. Sweet mentioned how she’s seen every student she’s worked with grow exponentially from where they started. She stated repeatedly that their goal at the café isn’t to make a profit or succeed as a business but to help the students who come into the café grow and take something they learned to their next job.
The goal of the café is to create hope and a future, just as Jeremiah 29:11 says.
This fostering of hope and opportunity is a regular trait to the Sweet family. By day, Dr. Sweet works as a physician at Johnson City Internal Medicine, then he returns to the cafe in the afternoons to help however he can. The couple’s eldest daughter, Charlotte, is studying education at Belmont Abbey in Belmont, N.C., and plans to get a master’s degree in special education to help children with autism.
As Mrs. Sweet shared these details, her smile widened with pride. She does this when she talks about her eldest son, DJ, who is Charlotte’s twin. DJ also was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome as a child. Asperger syndrome is a category of autism. While DJ did well in school, his struggles came socially, a typical challenge for those with Asperger. Mr. and Mrs. Sweet’s youngest son, Nicholas, is only 14 and unable to help with the restaurant at the moment, but he shares his support alongside many of the cafe’s guests.
The smile on Mrs. Sweet’s face as she talks of her children can be summed up in one word: love.
Everything about Jeremiah Café is love. It is the love of Kate that started the journey for the Sweet family. It was God’s love that called the Sweets to build an opportunity for the students at Jeremiah School. It is the love of the community it serves that allows the restaurant to continue to grow and help its students.
Under heavenly direction, the Sweet family listened to God’s call and inspiration. “To give you hope and a future,” God declared.
Jeremiah Café provides an opportunity to foster hope as well as an opportunity for a future for the students at Jeremiah School. With the support of the community, Jeremiah Café was able to celebrate a year of business and has plans to continue growing for many more to come.
Jeremiah Café
Location: 603 W. Walnut Street, Johnson City, TN 37604
Website: jeremiahcafe.com
Phone: 423-576-0004
Hours: Tue.-Fri., 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Sat., 7 a.m.-4 p.m.