Café Joyeux

Direct

• Promoting social and economic inclusion and reducing inequalities: the VilacomVida Association and Café Joyeux seek to provide employment and training opportunities for people with intellectual and developmental difficulties who, due to the conventional working environment, find it very difficult to enter the job market and become autonomous.

Through theoretical and practical vocational training in the catering sector adapted to participants with disabilities, the VilacomVida Association and Café Joyeux provide training and a Professional Qualification Certificate as a multipurpose catering agent recognized by the professional sector.

Since 2020, 116 people have been supported in VilacomVida's different programs. 45 people with IDD have been accompanied on their career path by the association, 35 people have obtained professional training, and another 11 people have taken part in other "On-the-job" and "Cooking with Soul" programs.

• Creating fair work opportunities for all: People with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) who work at Joyeux have a paid employment contract, and also benefit from a free training program for families, which trains multi-skilled employees in the catering sector: kitchen, barista, table service and cashier. After the 2-year training, to obtain their diploma as multi-skilled employees in the catering sector, the employee is offered an open-ended contract.

Since 2021, 20 people with DID have been hired at partner companies such as SONAE, FUJITSU, Banco CTT, Colégio o Nosso Jardim, Craveiral, Cozinha com Alma and Mercearia André. At Café Joyeux, 11 people are currently employed and 15 are in the process of being hired.

• Equal and universal access to quality education: Education and training models in general are planned without taking young people with IDD into account, which leads to very significant dropout rates. This is directly linked to a subsequent lack of employment and inactivity, which increases the risk of poverty and social exclusion. With the training, people with IDD have access to a methodology aimed at inclusion developed by the VilacomVida Association. The methodology, called the Intervention Model for Autonomous Living (MIVA), seeks to train people to work in a profession, to help them sign an employment contract and to accompany them in the first years of their careers.

Indirect

• Increase in the quality of life of people participating in the programs: in June 2021, the impact of the Vila com Vida programs was measured with 41 young people to obtain the biopsychosocial index after participating in the intervention. The results obtained showed a positive change in this indicator in 34 people, demonstrating that they had significantly improved their quality of life.
• Partnerships for development: for the work of the VilacomVida Association to have an impact on more and more Portuguese families, VilacomVida is committed to networking. On-the-job projects, in Cozinha com Alma, the Follow-up program in inclusive recruitment processes - some companies are followed up with the help of other IPSS, such as Cercica, Valor T, Pais em Rede, Fundação Liga, Crinabel, Quinta Essência, Cadin, among others - so that more people have the opportunity to have a decent job and an independent life.

The promoter of the campaign is the VilacomVida association, a non-profit IPSS (Private Social Solidarity Institution) founded in 2016 by a group of parents of children and young people with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD), namely Trisomy 21, Autism Spectrum Disorders, among others.

VilacomVida shows that people with IDD, provided they have the right conditions and opportunities, can develop talents and skills that allow them to be included in society, have a job, and a happy and independent life. 

Café Joyeux in Portugal is a company based in Lisbon, fully owned by the VilacomVida, whose mission is to bring society closer to difference so that it ceases to be seen as so. They are committed to showcasing the talents of people with IDD, using an innovative, sustainable, and inclusive training model that will enhance employability for future autonomous generations and a plural society.

The Joyeux cafés-restaurants and creating new social businesses are the main action tools for implementing this mission towards sustainability.

Café Joyeux's story in Portugal began when the President of VilacomVida, Filipa Pinto Coelho, became pregnant with Manuel, a child with Trisomy 21, who is now 7 years old. It was the fear she felt during her pregnancy that led her to develop a strategy of outreach and positive communication of the abilities and talents of people with IDD, so that others could discover, and not reject, out of fear or prejudice, the opportunity to meet or employ someone in this spectrum. 

The project was created to bring intellectual difference to the center of the community, thus increasing opportunities for healthy social and professional integration. The Association aims to change the way people look at (d)efficiency and change the concept of economic performance. In its work, Café Joyeux Portugal has several important partners such as Café Joyeux France, Ageas Seguros Portugal, Cascais City Council, Brisa, Banco Santander, BNP Paribas, MEO and Cofidis Portugal.

They have been recognized with various awards and distinctions: Partnerships for Impact (2020); BPI La Caixa Prize (2020), CEPSA Social Value Prize (2021), Plus + Fund (Casa do Impacto, SCML, 2023); Deloitte Pact Fund (2020), Vinci Prize for Citizenship (2021), Auchan Foundation Prize (2022).