Sign up for coffee
1 December 2006Star Sign Café is the first and only café in the country staffed and run by deaf people. Originally part of the Auckland Deaf Society kitchen, in August the café expanded and moved to Auckland’s Dominion Road, where it can attract customers from passing foot traffic.
Angus McDonald founded the café in 2002 because he saw many deaf people unable to get jobs and unable to get life experience where they would interact with people directly. Most deaf people work in factories and never get the opportunity to meet real customers, McDonald says. “All the staff just love interacting with the customers as it’s a real lifetime opportunity for them,” he says. Most staff are skilled at lip reading, and customers can also order by pointing at the menu, writing down what they want, or by signing – hence the café’s name. Customers walking in off the street are initially unsure how to communicate with deaf staff, but they quickly gain confidence once they start ordering, McDonald says.
The café employs two full-time and three part-time workers, six days a week. A major part of its work is around catering, mostly for deaf people’s parties and functions.
McDonald hopes trade will grow so he can employ more deaf staff and give existing staff the opportunity to move on to other cafes with the skills they have learned at Star Sign.
Profits from Star Sign are put back into the deaf community to provide further training and career development opportunities.