KCK cafe gives youth aging out of foster care chance at success with on-the-job training

Blown glass light fixtures glow and oil paintings by a local artist adorn exposed brick walls around refinished tables at Connect Cafe in the Strawberry Hill neighborhood of Kansas City, Kansas.

A trendy chalkboard menu hangs above the cash register. It lists hot and cold coffee drinks and reads, “Nourish. Nurture. Network.”

Though the decor is homey and familiar, the cafe at 756 Armstrong Ave. is different from any of the restaurants Randy Ross, former co-owner of McGonigle’s Market, has run over the past few decades.

Connect Cafe isn’t just a restaurant that serves coffee drinks, breakfast and lunch. It’s a unique program that employs and trains young adults who have aged out of the foster care system. It’s part of FosterAdopt Connect, a nonprofit that supports youth and families navigating child welfare systems in Missouri and Kansas.

The program at the cafe that opened in October is a dream realized for Ross and his wife Lori Ross, the president and CEO of FosterAdopt Connect.

Unlike the for-profit restaurant business, Randy Ross said, Connect Cafe isn’t about the bottom line. It’s about a longer-term goal of helping former foster youth with job training, life skills and the support they need “to be successful and live a happy, healthy life.”

A ‘really positive’ work environment

The program model has two key components: On-the-job training in things like making coffee, preparing food and running the cash register, and professional development workshops on topics like customer service, resume writing, budgeting and taxes.

For several months, participants work at the cafe and attend workshops in preparation for their next step in life.

FosterAdopt Connect drew inspiration and practical knowledge from Philadelphia coffee shop The Monkey & The Elephant, which employs and trains former foster youth. It purchased a curriculum from that shop, which it’s developing further for Connect Cafe.

“Every day I come in here the atmosphere just feels non-negative, really positive,” said Eh Doh, a 20-year-old who does “a little bit of everything” at the shop. He learned about Cafe Connect through Youthrive, another FosterAdopt Connect program.

Madisson Page, 24, appreciates the supportive environment at Connect Cafe.

“If you’re having issues either at work or at home, and you’re stressed, you can sit down and talk to somebody,” Page said, adding that the staff encourages her as she balances work, being a mother to three and now college, which she starts this summer.

Though she wasn’t in foster care, Page is part of the Hillcrest Transitional Housing program, and her case manager helped her set up an interview for the job Connect Cafe.

Randy Ross said the program has a list of young people waiting to join its next group.

Filling a gap in the system

In the vast majority of cases, when foster kids turn 18, their benefits and support from the state and federal government end. Many former foster kids are left to survive on their own, often without income, transportation or a home.

It’s a critical sink or swim moment for thousands of young people, and can be detrimental without enough support. Every year, roughly 20 percent of the young adults who age out of foster care in America — more than 4,000 — immediately become homeless, studies show. And thousands more — rising to as much as 40 percent in some parts of the country — are homeless within four years of aging out.

“Once you hit 18, all the resources are gone,” said Randy Ross. “You’re cut off. It sucks.”

Lori Ross said that kids who come through foster care have experienced trauma that creates barriers to getting the skills and knowledge needed for employment. The cafe offers not just practical training but an environment to work through challenges.

“If a kid’s out a whole week because of, maybe, some mental health issues, he can jump right back on this horse,” Randy Ross said.

The program is about guidance, not discipline, according to program manager Jeff Levy.

“It’s not three strikes, you’re out,” Levy said.

“Once they come out of this place, we would really like them to have the skill set to go into a working environment and be successful,” Randy Ross said.

A family affair

Randy and Lori Ross draw on 37 years of experience as foster and adoptive parents. They’ve fostered around 400 kids and adopted 23, the majority of whom were in foster care. They’re also biological parents to five.

Since Lori Ross started FosterAdopt Connect in 2000, it’s grown to 12 locations in Missouri and one in Kansas.

While Lori was busy developing the organization, Randy Ross spent decades as a Kansas City restaurateur, running a restaurant group for more than a decade and then working at McGonigle’s Market for 20 years, where he became part owner.

After Fareway Stores bought McGonigle’s in 2020, he began thinking about his next move, which prompted this collision of his personal and professional lives.

Expanding in the future

Lori Ross said Connect Cafe is seeing business success much more quickly than anticipated: It’s on track to be profitable by the end of its first year of operation.

Randy Ross is working on the design for an outdoor patio area. In the coming weeks, construction will be complete on a kitchen addition for larger catering orders. Looking further ahead, he hopes to open more locations.

Connect Cafe is open 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday and serves coffee drinks, bakery and breakfast and lunch entrees. Baked goods and other menu items are made on site and from scratch.