{"id":10170,"date":"2023-08-31T16:00:23","date_gmt":"2023-08-31T20:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/?p=10170"},"modified":"2023-08-31T16:00:27","modified_gmt":"2023-08-31T20:00:27","slug":"get-to-know-beckie-schwartz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/get-to-know-beckie-schwartz\/","title":{"rendered":"Get to Know \u2026 Beckie Schwartz"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Martie Thompson
editor@floridanewsline.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beckie Schwartz is owner of Noah\u2019s Agape Cafe in Fruit Cove, which will be celebrating its one year anniversary this month. The cafe, located just south of the Julington Creek Bridge on State Road 13, is a non-profit organization that seeks to offer those with intellectual differences a meaningful job. Patrons will find joyful and special employees who will serve them coffee, snacks, and sandwiches. Schwartz, who has lived in Florida since 1981, moved to NW St. Johns County six years ago with her husband, Sam, as well as the cafe\u2019s namesake, Noah, who was born visually impaired with Down syndrome and autism. Noah is the youngest of the Schwartz family\u2019s six children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: What brought you to St. Johns County?<\/strong>
A: We were living in South Florida before we moved here. Our oldest daughter went to the University of North Florida, and we fell in love with this area when we visited her. She eventually married and had a baby, so we moved here six years ago to be closer to the grandchildren. We now have three grandchildren and one more on the way.

Q: What led you to open Noah\u2019s Agape Cafe?<\/strong>
A: My parents gave me a small inheritance early and I knew, since I loved cooking and baking with my children, that I wanted to open a restaurant. I also knew I wanted to help the special needs community and be a source of meaningful jobs for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: How much have you learned since opening the cafe?<\/strong>
A: So many things! I\u2019m the type of person who just jumps into things and then wonders what I got myself into. I do a lot of praying! When we originally found the location for the cafe, I had enough money to do the buildout and get the facility into working order. Then, with permits and licensing, we decided to take a leap of faith and put in a full kitchen so we could offer more than just \u201cgrab and go\u201d food as originally planned. We had to take out loans to cover the costs. My thoughts at the time were: God\u2019s got this. We can make it work. Plus, now we can offer culinary skills to our employees in addition to barista.

Q: What is the most fulfilling part of being the cafe\u2019s owner?<\/strong>
A: I like seeing the kids (I know they\u2019re actually adults, but to me they are my kids) grow. For instance, one girl didn\u2019t know she could crack eggs \u2014 but she did and she made the eggs for the egg sandwiches that day. We offer on the job training for a variety of special needs schools in the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Almost every day my heart is warmed; people come in for the treats, coffee, to use our Wifi, and to hug our kids. Some customers actually come in just to get hugs from our kids. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q: What place would you like Noah\u2019s Agape Cafe to serve in the community?<\/strong>
A: I\u2019d like it to raise awareness \u2026 the special needs community is capable of working. They want to feel useful and have a purpose. Everybody\u2019s not the same and they have different tasks at the cafe based on their abilities. For instance, one man likes to just clean. Some like the water and want to wash dishes all day. Each one has something they can do \u2014 along with smiling at our customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[Editor\u2019s Note: Noah\u2019s Agape Cafe will celebrate its first birthday with a birthday bash on Sept. 9 from 8 a.m. \u2013 8 p.m. The community is invited to attend the celebration, which will include a DJ, face painting, and a representation of other non profit organizations from the area. Visit www.noahsagapecafe.org or the cafe\u2019s Facebook page for more information.]<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n


Photo courtesy Beckie Schwartz
Beckie and Sam Schwartz with Noah.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Martie Thompsoneditor@floridanewsline.com Beckie Schwartz is owner of Noah\u2019s Agape Cafe in Fruit Cove, which will be celebrating its one year anniversary this month. The cafe, located just south of the Julington Creek Bridge on State Road 13, is a non-profit organization that seeks to offer those with intellectual differences a meaningful job. Patrons will […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10118,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[10],"class_list":{"0":"post-10170","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-creekline-st-johns","8":"tag-get-to-know"},"yoast_head":"\nGet to Know \u2026 Beckie Schwartz - Florida NewsLine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"CreekLineBy Martie Thompsoneditor@floridanewsline.com Beckie Schwartz is owner of Noah\u2019s Agape Cafe in Fruit Cove, which will be celebrating its one year\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/floridanewsline.com\/Clone2\/creekline-st-johns\/get-to-know-beckie-schwartz\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Get to Know \u2026 Beckie Schwartz - 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