Finding a job can be hard for anyone after graduating from high school. But young adults with special needs and disabilities have an added struggle. Employers assume they’re incapable of fulfilling the needs of a job. So they spend months or years in the search.
But Simran Malhotra, 20, who has autism, was able to find work quickly. She was hired at No Limits Coffee Shop a few months after graduating.
“In the beginning, it was hard, but everyone is so helpful,” says Malhotra. “Now my favorite part of the job is to pass out food. I like making the customers happy. I also like that I get to make money.”
No Limits, which opened eight months ago near Kendale Lakes, employs 15 people who suffer from everything from Down syndrome to autism. It is a mecca for people who might not find employment elsewhere. Many of the students come from Great Heights Academy, a private school in Kendale Lakes with a K-12 and young adult program that caters to students with various disabilities.
Khia Lopez founded Great Heights in January 2014, long before No Limits opened in August 2025, because she wanted to continue helping students by giving them real work experience. As her students grew up and graduated, she became concerned with them finding work due to the negative view of people with special needs.
“Khia was a great teacher,” says Malhotra. “I’m happy to have her as my boss now.”
A 2025 study from The Able Trust says that only 23% of people with disabilities over 16-years-old are part of the workforce in Florida. The average worker with a high school diploma, which is the education level of people with disabilities, makes around $34,769. But over 50% of those with disabilities make under that amount. Disabled people often want a job but don’t get the chance. If they do, pay is often low compared to that of workers with no disability.
No Limits became the next step in Lopez’s goal to support the disabled community of South Florida. After working alongside Isabella Pazos, 24, a teacher’s assistant at Great Heights with a degree in hospitality management from Florida International University, Lopez was hired as the manager of the coffee shop.
“Our employees can do anything that a regular employee can do,” says Pazos.
Training included a hands-on approach to make sure the employees understood what had to be done, says Pazos. After a while, they became fully independent in placing orders, serving customers and cleaning tables.
“Besides using serving carts instead of large trays and table numbers, we don’t have any big accommodations for them,” she says.
Giving the employees this opportunity to work is seen as an investment in their future.
“We don’t need to tell them to do a task,” says Pazos. “They see something that needs to get done, and they jump to do it.”
Employees see working at No Limits as a chance to better their qualifications.
Angelo Ordoñez, 27, is a server who was hired from the community in December. The coffee shop hires not only alumni from Great Height Academy but also individuals from other places as well.
“This place is close to my home,” says Ordoñez. “My mom is really smart and helped me find this job.”
Ordoñez graduated from Miami-Dade College in 2021 after studying animation and is using this job to understand what it’s like to work before he takes the next step in going into the animation industry.
“I love working here,” says Ordoñez. “They taught me how to deliver food and clean the dishes.”
No Limits puts a lot of effort into helping workers prepare and learn for their future.
They have made a big mark in showing what the disabled community of South Florida can do. With the support they have had chances to expand and make their cause known to a larger audience.
In November 2025, they opened a second location at the Westchester Regional Library.
The staff was invited to have a booth at the SOBE Wine & Food Festival, which is partly sponsored by FIU’s Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management, to bring more inclusivity to the event.
“With the support of the community, we’re creating opportunities and making a real difference,” says Pazos.
