About US
Esteamed Coffee exists to connect employees with various disabilities and our community at large, in such a way that the lives of all are enriched through their fellowship in a warm, welcoming environment.
OUR Mission
Coffee FOR A Cause
We are not just a coffee shop. We are a community on a mission to lower the 70+% unemployment rate for people with disabilities by creating meaningful job opportunities for people with intellectual, developmental, communication and/or visual impairments in a warm supportive environment.
Esteamed Coffee is located in a renovated 1940 cottage at 114 S. Academy Street, Cary, NC 27511. The bright and airy cottage has a small conference room with barn doors, a banquette area, and a beautiful bar overlooking Academy Street. The outdoor patio is beautifully landscaped and offers a quaint, comfortable area of tables where our four legged friends on leashes are also welcome!
OUR space
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Angie HUDSON
CO-FOUNDER
"When I was 18 and beginning college at UNC, I started losing my vision; by age 21, I had to stop driving due to my vision loss. That was almost 30 years ago. I know firsthand what it is like to live with a disability and how challenging it can be. Even though each individual has different obstacles they face, all those living with a disability have 3 general areas of life that are impacted: obtaining employment, adapting to a job, and social engagement. Esteamed Coffee’s mission is to address each of these obstacles by providing job coaching and a supportive/encouraging environment where the employees and patrons feel they are part of a warm, welcoming community. "
Tamara LAPSLEY
CO-FOUNDER
"Since graduating from UNC in 1984 with a master’s degree in speech-language pathology, I have worked with individuals of all ages with speech-language disorders and have always loved helping people. However, communication deficits hit close to home eight years ago when Angie and I had a dear friend whose healthy, athletic 18 year old son suffered a massive stroke. Austin initially lost the ability to communicate as well as use of his right hand and leg. While walking through this crisis with Austin’s family, I became acquainted with a new concept that Maura Silverman of Triangle Aphasia Project, Unlimited (TAP) was piloting called a Communication Support Team. Through volunteering with TAP on Austin’s Communication Support Team, I have seen the significant impact that this type of Life Participation therapy can have on an individual’s communication improvement as well as the impact it can have on their family. And the thought occurred to me, why can’t this type of therapy be extended to the individual’s work environment as well?"
Julie WALKER
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
After graduating from Penn State University with a Communications degree and spending a few years working in film production, I found my true calling in the small rainforest community of El Sur, Costa Rica. There, I spent a two week volunteer vacation teaching, painting, digging, building, and more. The service bug bit, and it bit hard! Upon my return to the states, I immediately joined AmeriCorps, where I taught English as a Second Language to immigrants and refugees, as well as Adult Basic Education to American-born adults in Pittsburgh, PA. In my second year of service, I delivered books and storytimes to children in public housing and daycares on a mobile library. My experience meant so much to me that for the next nine years, I led cohorts of AmeriCorps members on their own service journeys as the director of the program itself.
I moved to Cary in 2020 and soon discovered my new happy place - Esteamed Coffee. After a few years of working for a remote food and beverage startup, I am absolutely thrilled to be back within the local nonprofit world and can’t wait to get things done with the incredible Esteamed family!
Meet THE team
REBECCA
Operations Director
MORGAN
Assistant General Manager
ANDREW
Shift Manager
MEGAN
Shift Manager
MOLLY
Barista
RYAN
Barista
KATHY
Barista
AUSTIN
Head Cashier
JACK
Cashier
MARISA
Barista
MICHAEL
Floor Manager
LADD
Cashier
KAREN
Cashier
CHANDLER
Cashier
ALISSA
Barista
EMILY
Barista
TREAINA
Barista
ALYSSA
Barista
SERENITY
Barista
TAMARA LAPSLEY
Director
Meet THE Board
ANGIE HUDSON
Director
JOHN POWELL
Director
KIRBY BARBOUR
Board Chair
MARY
MADENSPACHER
Board Secretary
RICK
CARNAGUA
Board Treasurer
JACKIE
HOLCOMBE
Director
OUR story
2019
Our Board of Directors (Christy Teague, Angie Hudson, Tamara Lapsley, Maura Silverman) at the Charity Distance Festival 5k Race!