VANCOUVER, B.C. — Although they had bedrooms next to each other while growing up, little Faith Tang didn’t want a wall separating her from her big sister Grace. “In the middle of the night I would drag my mattress over to her bedroom,” Faith recalls. “Eventually we ended up just sharing a room.” But sharing their parents’ attention wasn’t as easy, seeing as Grace regularly visited the hospital for her developmental disabilities. So, their mom Cathy committed to making Faith feel special too. “Let’s have mother daughter dates,” Faith smiles. They both appreciate how regular visits to cafes could bring them closer, and Cathy told Faith about her dream of opening a business so Grace could learn life skills and find a place to feel included in the community. “(My mom) wanted to do it,” Faith says. “And then she passed away.” That left Faith and Grace’s dad, Gary, to care for them alone. “It was very hard for us,” Gary says. But Gary believed the best way to heal was to help others. “You have to make more people happy,” Gary says. So, Gary and Faith decided to open a cafe named after Cathy to realize her dream of helping Grace realize her potential. “It’s amazing!” Faith says. “It’s really beautiful to see.” Because along with learning both practical and social skills, Grace has found the confidence to be her best self. “She’s so funny,” Faith says. “She loves to laugh and smile.” And Grace is not alone. Cathy’s Cafe now provides opportunities for eleven other people with disabilities to learn employable skills, including Oliver Miu. “I like the customers here,” Oliver smiles. “And I hope to make everyone happy.” While Faith and Gary have realized Cathy’s dream, the cafe’s staff and customers have inspired Grace to come up with a dream of her own. “She’s dreaming that in the future she’s the manager, in charge to take of the cafe,” Gary smiles proudly. And that’s how two sisters who didn’t want a wall keeping them apart, grew up to become two women ensuring there are no barriers to building an inclusive community together. “And that’s defiantly something that people talk about a lot,” Faith smiles. “They feel the love from everybody.”
