People With Disabilities Find Work, Learn Skills At Bucks Bakery

BUCKINGHAM TOWNSHIP, PA — When Paula Fasciano's son turned 21 years old, it was time to find him gainful employment, but the Pipersville mother of two quickly learned that was easier said than done.

Matthew, now 24, was born with a condition known as Fragile X syndrome, a genetic disorder characterized by mild-to-moderate intellectual disability. About 1 in 3 people with the syndrome also has autism.

Not only did Fasciano have trouble finding Matthew a steady job, she also had to get him enrolled in social services and apply for a waiver through the government to find him a mentor.

"All those things are pretty much a nightmare every step of the way," Fasciano says. "It's very, very hard to find an individual who is differently abled some meaningful employment."

It was around that time she and her friend, Suzette Koller, another mom of a child with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD), came up with the idea to create a kind of staffing firm for differently abled children, with the intention of reaching out to Doylestown area businesses who needed workers.

"We were going to invest in some kind of transportation because none of them drive," she recalls.

But they put that plan on hold after Koller, a baker by trade, learned that a local bakery owner was looking to sell her space in the Buckingham Green Shopping Center. Fasciano, who works three jobs, was able to collect enough money to purchase the space.

"The other moms thought I was crazy," she laughed.

But Fasciano had read about other businesses that had success employing adults with developmental disabilities, and so the entrepreneur jumped at the opportunity.

You can find Fasciano and Koller at the bakery most days, but they're actually just volunteers. Each of the shop's 15 employees have some form of intellectual disability, she said.

Fasciano has ambitions of expanding her business model to other sectors (an animal shelter employing people with IDD would be called "Pet Ability"). She's seen the model be successful elsewhere, in places like Highland Park, Illinois, where the Collaborative Community Housing Initiative brought together families of young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities who were in search of a more inclusive community. She believes the model can be replicated in Bucks County.

"That’s what I envision eventually. I have to start somewhere," she said.

Located at 4950 York Road in Buckingham Township, the bakery is open Wednesday through Sunday, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

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