Laura Holanszky, Arizona Sonoran News
John Wood is the sandwich-expert on Special Eats’ grilled cheese truck.
Since it launched 19 months ago, Wood, who has autism, has learned how to make all of the specialties from the Belly Buster, whose melty cheese is topped with jalapenos and candied bacon, to the grilled PB&J Gooey Gobler.
When the food truck, which employs adults with special needs, launched a dessert truck early this year, Wood said he was sticking with the grilled cheese; he likes his routine and schedule, he said.
Special Eats rolled out Special Eats Sweets with a mobile operation and then a brick-and-mortar at 5009 E. Fifth St. that opened in February. The expansion allows Special Eats to offer more job opportunities to the community.
“The special needs community is growing at a fast pace, and places where people with special needs can work are very limited,” said Special Eats cofounder Tamara Varga. “There are many people who have not worked for three or four years. It’s a real issue.”
As a mother of a son with autism, a daughter with selective mutism and a son with Down syndrome, Varga has first-hand experience of the job market’s challenges for a person with special needs.
“My oldest son has autism. When he turned 16, he was looking for a job, and we couldn’t find him one. I wanted to create something that my kids are proud of and they would go to and feel loved and valued. It’s my passion.” she said.
Workers at the company’s headquarters at 5546 E. Fourth St. do everything from maintenance to food prep.
“They’re the hardest workers that we know,” Varga said one recent weekday as Jesus Martinez was busy fixing a shelf. “They don’t want to miss a day of work. If they have a doctor’s appointment, they get upset because they don’t want to miss work. If everyone had their love of work, the world would be a different place.”
When Martinez greeted a visitor with a big smile and said hi, Varga recalled how he didn’t speak when he first came to work for her.
“Jesus has selective mutism,” she said. “But after six months working here, he began to talk.”
Job coaches are the glue of Special Eats, helping employees develop their skills in various areas.
“We have 20 job coaches for 40 employees,” Varga said. “We do theater classes, sign language classes and money skills classes just to help them with their social, emotional life skills.”
The job coaches work with the employees to make sure everyone ends up in the position where they can excel the most.
Sonia Colvin, who has cerebral palsy, found her passion in photography as well as creating social media posts. She also took part in creating Valentine’s Day cookie jars earlier this year, and selling merchandise in front of the food trucks.
“I enjoy working here,” she said, adding that her favorite part of the day is coming into work.
Turning to Varga, she said, “You’re my number one boss.”
On any given day, Varga will get 30 hugs from her employees.
“We are a good family. We hug each other and tell each other that we love each other,” she said.
That love also comes in the monthly paycheck.
“For a lot of people, before they worked, it was for sub-minimum wage. Now they can actually earn a real paycheck and they can live on it and do extracurricular activities with it,” Varga said. “People just need to give them a chance.”
Arizona Sonoran News is a news service of the University of Arizona School of Journalism.
