BeanScene Magazine

Samantha Brennan speaks with the kind of confidence and fluidity you would expect from a media-trained spokesperson.

As the winner of the inaugural 2011 MadCap Café Barista Championships, it would be easy to believe she took the top spot for the strength of her presentation skills as much as her coffee-making abilities.

It comes as a surprise, then, when Samantha starts to speak of a time when she could hardly talk to anyone, let alone an attentive audience or a journalist taking down every word she says.

“I had so much anxiety, I was on a medical certificate and living off Centrelink,” she explains. “The idea of speaking to anyone would make me so nervous.”

In addition to outlining the progress she’s made, Samantha also can’t help but boast about her co-workers. Not your ordinary café, MadCap is specifically designed to help people in Australia with mental illness transition into the workplace. The project is run by Ermha Inc. (Eastern Regions Mental Health Association). It’s a not-for-profit organisation that delivers support to people experiencing mental illness. It is the brainchild of Anthony Cheeseman, who likes to say, at MadCap, “rather than employing people to make coffee – they make coffee to employ people.”

Samantha’s own introduction to MadCap came at a time when she had little hope of being able to keep a job. She found that employers weren’t willing to offer her any flexibility to help her deal with her anxiety.

“If I would call in sick for a shift, I wouldn’t get another shift for two weeks,” she explains. “No one I worked for would ask me how I was doing and actually care. They only care if you can do the work.”

Samantha had little choice but to go on Centrelink income support payments. As part of her Centrelink program, she was involved with the Sarina Russo Group. The employment agency set her up with MadCap. Anthony had just started the project, and Samantha attended a four-day barista training course.

“I just thought, ‘why not give it a try,’” she recalls. “And then I met everyone there and I just felt really comfortable.”

Following the course, Samantha was offered a position at the Dandenong Plaza MadCap location.

“When I started working, I told myself I wouldn’t be scared, that I would just dive in and try to be helpful,” she says.

Two and a half years later, Samantha is now a team leader at the same Dandenong café. Her transition from a student in the barista training room to a teacher position, is remarkable. Samantha now looks after Friday training sessions where interested customers can stop in for casual barista courses. It would seem that other people have shared Samantha’s good vibes from the courses, as they regularly attract 15 – 20 people every Friday, eager to try their hand at coffee making in a supportive environment.

The roots of MadCap are in Anthony’s knowledge of the positive impact gainful employment can have on a person’s wellbeing. His sister was never able to work because of brain damage in her youth. Anthony saw first hand the impact this had on her mental health. These days, with three MadCap locations operating in Victoria, Anthony witnesses the daily positive effects of creating a workplace for people like Samantha. His efforts recently earned him a nomination as Local Hero, Australian of the Year.  

Having worked closely with Anthony over the last few years, Samantha’s passion for the work MadCap accomplishes is evident.

“It helps me to know that I’m helping people feel better about themselves,” Samantha says. “At MadCap they understand it’s not as easy to switch off your personal life when you’re at work. They know my background here and they don’t judge me.”

The key to MadCap, Samantha and Anthony explain, is not only this understanding, but the flexibility of a workplace environment. What Anthony quickly explains, is that this flexibility doesn’t come at a cost to the business. Without good food, coffee and service, the project would never have survived. What the flexibility does require are some creative ways of thinking outside the box to incorporate employees.

One example that Samantha speaks fondly of, is their experience with an employee, Elizabeth, who is deaf. While she can lip read a little, the team has been working on their Auslan (Australian sign language) to better communicate with Elizabeth. The next step will be to set up a series of signs on the serving end of the cash register, so that customers can use basic Auslan to put in their orders.

“Working with MadCap, there are just endless possibilities like this,” says Samantha. “Working with Elizabeth is such an amazing experience. When she started, we didn’t really know how to communicate with her. Now we’re taking the initiative to put up pictures and learn Auslan.”

This approach, Anthony explains, is a prime example of effective social inclusion. “Instead of forcing her to communicate in our world, it brings us over into her world,” he says.
The MadCap Café Barista Championship, which took place from 8 to 9 November at the Kakaloka Coffee Company, was a great opportunity for MadCap employees to participate in a mainstream event. 

While Samantha is shy to speak about her own success, she cites another participant as the best example of what taking part in a workplace can do to help a person battling mental illness.

“When she first came into training three months ago at the centre, she was really intense and had severe anxiety issues,” explains Samantha. “She was hard on herself and had really big expectations, so every time she made a mistake she couldn’t handle it.”

Something as small as missing an extraction or dropping a glass was enough to send her out of the room. Over the last few months, along with this participant’s support worker, Samantha says she’s been working hard to help create a supportive environment, explaining to her that even after two and half years she, Samantha, continues to make mistakes.

With much convincing, Samantha and Anthony got this participant into the competition. Both admit they were pretty impressed when she got through the first round without any mistakes, making it into the top three. On the second day, when the participant was competing, she spilled a bit of milk and Samantha says she was bracing herself for a scene. To her surprise, however, the participant merely joked: “There’s no point in crying over spilled milk.”

“You could just see the change in her, it’s like she learned how to regain herself,” Samantha says. “I want her to take that experience away and learn that she’s up there with all of us. It’s easy for us to try to tell her that, but for her to recognise it in the competition was remarkable.”

The comfortable, understanding environment of MadCap extends over the counter to the customers. With a sign out front of the café explaining their purpose, Anthony says that MadCap cafés have become a “shopfront for mental illness”, with the public similarly coming in for support.

“We’re letting people know that there are things that can be done to change and help people with mental illness,” says Anthony. “I believe that every person in this world has a place where they can feel they belong.”

Samantha admits she spends her time at home thinking about ways she can help her fellow employees, who she also considers her closest friends. It would seem, then, that Samantha has found her place.