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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nOriginally from Albuquerque, New Mexico, O\u2019Neal attended New Mexico State University, and her hotel, restaurant, and tourism management degree led her to Nashville. She met her husband, Chris, while managing a Green Hills restaurant. He worked at a next-door food establishment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
She shared, \u201cIt was love at first sight, and we got married and had babies.\u201d They have eight children, one of whom was a still-born baby with Trisomy 18. \u201cI thought, \u2018OK, God, maybe I couldn\u2019t handle a baby like that.\u2019 But then we had a little boy, and he was born on the same month and day we lost his sister. He has Trisomy 21, and he\u2019s just a perfect little angel that God gave us,\u201d said O\u2019Neal. \u201cEver since I was little, I remember my mother taking care of kids with autism, Down syndrome \u2014 things like that \u2014 and I remember thinking, \u2018Oh, I\u2019d love to have one of those babies and children because they\u2019re such little angels; they\u2019re so sweet.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The couple moved from Nashville to her husband\u2019s family farm. But no matter how much taking care of her family consumes her days, her heart is always watching for ways to make space for young people with disabilities. She hopes to provide a place where people with disabilities can contribute through responsibilities that give them a sense of pride and ownership and a place where they can spend time like other teenagers doing \u201ceveryday teenage things.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n What better place for them to work and spend time than a coffee shop? O\u2019Neal connected with young people in our community who could flourish through work and activities in a local coffee shop through conversations with like-minded people advocating for people with disabilities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n She crossed paths with the woman who manages suites of businesses within the Flamingo Fiesta on North Thompson Street, remembered by long-time Shelbyville residents as the old Mittwede Shopping Center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You\u2019ll find the Rise Up Cafe there serving specialty coffees, pastries, baked goods, salads, gourmet sandwiches, take-and-bake items, and a variety of offerings. Stopping at the coffee shop refuels your body and your spirit while pouring into the lives of those working there. O\u2019Neal said the cafe\u2019s profits help support other nonprofit groups serving persons with disabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEverybody loves coffee shops, and [people with disabilities] love coffee shops, too. They love Starbucks just as much as everybody else,\u201d she said. \u201cThis is just a cool place for them to work. Making others happy when they serve them coffee or a sandwich puts a smile on their faces.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s where O\u2019Neal hopes to see the community and those with disabilities coming together on both sides of the counter. She envisions the space as a meeting place for small groups and a gathering place where friendships blossom and no one is separated or excluded based on their differences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEverybody\u2019s welcome at the coffee shop. And I like the name \u2018Rise Up\u2019 because people have got to understand that you\u2019ve got to rise up from this world and what people think about others with disabilities,\u201d said O\u2019Neal passionately. The cafe is a place of belonging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGod is so good. Our community needs this, and I think we\u2019ll all be blessed for supporting something like this,\u201d she said, adding, \u201cI give all the glory to God. I\u2019m just a small vessel He\u2019s using to give young and older people with disabilities a voice.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n There will always be a place for them. In O\u2019Neal\u2019s life, outreach, and world, there will always be a place for them. GN<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" THERE WAS always a place for them. In Jessica O\u2019Neal\u2019s childhood home, their names were all different, but the loving spirit they brought with them was the same. They were children and teenagers with disabilities, abandoned or taken from abusive situations, who needed care and supervision. For the older ones, there were jobs \u2014 sometimes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":22197,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/shelbyville\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2024\/05\/Rise-up-cafe-1024x683.png\")
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