Riverside Coffee

The Riverside coffee shop in Lenoir City has generously offered jobs for the disabled in the first place which gave Tristan Lee a chance.

The person that started all of this was Angla Lee, Tristan’s mom. Tristan absolutely loves this job.

“I love to make people drinks and make them happy,” Tristan said.

Tristan loves to work. He loves this job and he wants to continue to make everyone he talks to happy.

“I want to be a Starbucks worker,” Tristan said when his mom asked him what he wanted to do when he was older. The Riverside cafe is not the exact same as a Starbucks, but it serves as a good barista training experience.

Tristan was born with down syndrome, and there were barely any job offers.

“There weren’t many opportunities that I could find for him,” Angla said.

When covid hit, it was really hard on this family, especially for Tristan. Tristan was always in his room and would barely come out. This took a big toll on Tristain. Angla then decided to get her son out of the house and she would look for a job for her and her son. 

After being unable to find a job for him, she decided to open up her own coffee shop that would help kids with disabilities. This is a perfect training ground for these kids. Angla has a master’s degree in special education, so she decided to help others like her son, Tristan, have the opportunity to have a job.