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The establishments of the animation H Street northeast of Washington DC They are lit with known names and logos: Petco, Whole Foods, CVS. There is also a Starbucks. Or more specifically, STARBUCKS, uttered with the symbols of the hand in the sign language.
The coffee giant opened a shop with 24 employees who are deaf or hard of hearing who use sign language. It is a step, say the workers and defenders of this minority, of promote employment opportunities for the deaf community and, at the same time, immerse hearing-impaired people in spaces for the deaf. And this also assumes a supportive demonstration of one of the world's largest business brands among deaf people.
"Here they accept my identity," said Crystal Harris, a local barista. "Deafness has many faces"
The store is located a few blocks from the University of Gallaudet, an institution 150 years old and the unique in the world for students who are deaf or hard of hearing. Customers can see "Starbucks" written in sign language under the main logo. And on the inside, the appearance of any other Starbucks coffee has been designed and decorated specifically to celebrate the deaf culture.
An entire wall, for example, is covered with a multicolored mural fresco by a deaf artist and member of the faculty of Gallaudet. In the mural, a d in lower case to refer to deafness (deaf is deaf in English), a capital D to refer to the deaf identity, an eye to represent visual connections, a hand holding a cup of coffee and other symbols that show the fusion of deaf and hearing cultures.
Customers can communicate via the sign language or write your orders on a technological platform. Instead of waiting to hear their names at the end of the bar, they look up, where a screen indicates when their drinks are ready. The store has also been refurbished to maximize light and open lines of vision: high tables or stacks of cups, for example, limit people's visibility. Customers are also encouraged to use visual cues. Instead of reporting that the store does not offer chamomile tea, for example, it displays the "no" sign, then points to a printed menu with other options.
Camille Hymes, Starbucks Regional Vice President for Mid-Atlantic, said the company had chosen Washington DC for its proximity to Gallaudet and by the links of the city with the activism for the deaf community. By using the store as a profitable business model, Starbucks can be a example for other companies to do the same.
Adam Novsam, a Starbucks public services analyst and member of a group of deaf leaders, said he heard about "Deaf communities around the world looking for space" like this one. Novsam said that it can be frustrating to go to the cafeteria and face constant communication barriers. For example, you always have your order written on your phone "to greet the other person".
When store manager Matthew Gilsbach left the San Francisco Bay area in California to lead the operation, he knew, after three and a half years in the business, that one The regional manager was deaf.
"I thought, is there a deaf regional director? What's going on?he recalled.
This disbelief is precisely the type of stigma that Starbucks and advocates of the deaf community intend to fight. Howard Rosenblum, Executive Director of the National Association of the Deaf of the United States, He said that companies are hiring Deaf employees at lower levels, but rarely receive promotions.
Some companies are showing signs of progress: the Jenny Lay-Flurrie, Director of Accessibility at Microsoft, is deaf and struggled to expand accessibility for employees with disabilities. However, The unemployment and underemployment rate of the deaf community is 70%.
"The manager is always an auditor because there is a perception of limited capacity with deaf people"added Rosenblum.
Not so at the H Street store. The employee Kylie García had just been promoted from barista to shift supervisor. García grew up as the only deaf person in a family who does not know sign language and knows how difficult it is for deaf people to find work. Garcia previously worked in a Target store where his only function was to prepare drinks, never interact with customers and often he was out of conversations with other baristas.
"People refused to offer me jobs because they're not willing to take the risk"he says.
Pamela Pipes, a barista who has no problems with hearing and who is interpreter in sign languagehe left Raleigh, North Carolina, to work in the Washington DC store. "The tables have changedHe said: Customers who listen will have to discover how to navigate and communicate in spaces for the deaf.
Sitting in front of her, Harris joked that during the redevelopment phase, some customers were perplexed. Some waited to hear their names at the end of the counter.
The store will continue to gather feedback from customers and employees, and Starbucks can search for another city to locate its next sign language cafeteria. But Novsam has already seen a dream come true. Two nights before the opening of Starbucks, he walked down H Street to see the mural in shades of yellow, pink, green and blue.
"Vitality has moved me. That made me stop and I started crying", he added.
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