It has been a year in the making, but finally, a new cafe has opened up in Wollongong City Council's CBD building.
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The Brewing Up A Storm (BUAS) cafe, run by Greenacres, is ready and waiting to serve customers outside Wollongong's Burelli Street Library.
Greenacres' CEO, Chris Christodoulou, said it had taken 12 months to get the cafe off the ground. Still, discussions on a partnership between the organisation and Wollongong City Council had been happening for just a decade.
![Brewing Up a Storm opens at Wollongong Library. Employees Bianca Goldman and Luke Huska in front with Greenacres Disability Services CEO Chris Christodoulou, Wollongong deputy mayor Tania Brown, Wollongong City Council acting general manager Kerry Hunt and Greenacres board members Trish McClure and Marcela Kohazy. Picture by Robert Peet Brewing Up a Storm opens at Wollongong Library. Employees Bianca Goldman and Luke Huska in front with Greenacres Disability Services CEO Chris Christodoulou, Wollongong deputy mayor Tania Brown, Wollongong City Council acting general manager Kerry Hunt and Greenacres board members Trish McClure and Marcela Kohazy. Picture by Robert Peet](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/e5Qc2M5qQnfX3PTaVNk9Vy/e94912ff-5c87-4cc5-b436-c1b9d4ef9321.jpg/r0_24_5472_3575_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"I'm really, really proud from a Greenacres perspective that we've been able to provide yet again some other hospitality job opportunities to our people that we engage and employ," he said.
"This is our third cafe in the brewing after Storm. The first started at the SES building, the second at Warrigal Shell Cove and the third is, of course, here. It's great to open this cafe on our 70th year anniversary of Greenacres."
Greenacres' BUAS cafés provide individuals with disabilities a chance to gain work experience and employment, helping them to develop their hospitality skills.
Bianca Goldman, 25, from Balgownie, is a supported employee at the new coffee shop.
![Supported employee Bianca Goldman making coffee at the newly opened Brewing Up A Storm in Wollongong Library. Picture by Robert Peet Supported employee Bianca Goldman making coffee at the newly opened Brewing Up A Storm in Wollongong Library. Picture by Robert Peet](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/e5Qc2M5qQnfX3PTaVNk9Vy/1624b06e-837f-48c2-9d6b-f8a15a061e38.jpg/r0_97_5472_3587_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"Brewing Up A Storm has given me a lot of confidence and new friends as well. I've been working at the SES cafe, and I'm pretty excited about working here," she said.
Acting general manager of Wollongong City Council, Kerry Hunt, welcomed the addition of the new coffee shop within the Council Administration Building.
"We are delighted to welcome a coffee shop back into Council's Burelli Street Administration Building, and Brewing up a Storm is already making an impact in the short time they've been open," Ms Hunt said.
This week, the BUAS Cafe at Shell Cove Warrigal celebrates it's first anniversary, while Greenacres celebrates its 70th anniversary in 2023.
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