It’s Disability Employment Awareness Month, and one Melbourne restaurant stands out for providing job opportunities to individuals with disabilities. 

Their partnership with EmployU has been the key to their success.

The non-profit provides a one-stop shop for career development for people with disabilities. 

“They want to work, and that’s the difference, and it makes it easy to place with many of our community partners,” EmployU Area Coordinator of Vocational Services Glenna Scheidt said.

EmployU has several goals and highlights that it’s about more than just getting a job.

Ernest Fannin, the manager of Pineapples, has hired over 20 employees with disabilities since 2021.

He learned about EmployU while working for a different restaurant in 2018 and brought the initiative to this establishment.

“They are learning the skills of being in uniform, being on time, working with the public, and not to mention just a great work ethic and quality of work, they don’t just sit around and do nothing,” Fannin said.

That’s the mindset of 19-year-old James Banos, who has ADHD.

He was in transitional housing when he got the chance to work as a dishwasher.

James enjoys interacting with the staff and customers.

“I also enjoy doing something, doing anything honestly. The little things get you far,” Banos said.

Nathan Morris, who has autism and ADHD, has been employed at Pineapples for a year as part of the EmployU job-training program.

The culinary industry is something Morris has been interested in since he was a kid.

“I’ve been into the food industry for a while, because when I was little I used to watch cooking shows,” he tells us.

With that attitude, both men see themselves employed for the rest of their lives, developing skills and relationships that will make them employable.