Support the Mission

Meaningful Work & Enterprise

Work Is About More Than a Paycheck

Meaningful work can create confidence, connection, responsibility, skill and pride. JLU intends to make work and vocational opportunity a central part of the broader community model while recognizing that each person's goals, abilities and interests are different.

A small-batch coffee roaster with freshly roasted beans in the cooling tray and burlap sacks of green coffee beside it.
A light-filled workshop with screen-printing frames, a laser cutter, a wood bench and finished merchandise stacked on shelves.
A cafe counter in morning light, with pastries under glass, an espresso machine and timber beams overhead.

Many paths to contribution

Opportunities may include:

  • Employment with JLU
  • Work with collaborating businesses
  • Internships or apprenticeships
  • Training
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Employment with unrelated community employers

JLU employment will not be a condition of Village residence and will not create an entitlement to housing.

Enterprise Concepts

Ideas being explored

Approximately three flexible, barndominium-style workshop and employment buildings are currently envisioned, along with a public-facing cafe in the Village Commons.

Possible mission-related enterprises include:

  • Coffee shop and cafe
  • Coffee roasting
  • Screen printing and apparel
  • Laser engraving
  • Laser cutting
  • Woodworking
  • Assembly
  • Packaging
  • Fulfillment
  • Loading and delivery
  • Product showcase and retail
  • Merchandise production
  • Training
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Vocational programs
Concept of the employment buildings: a row of timber and steel workshop barns with large glass garage doors, signed Printing and Apparel and Laser Engraving and Woodworking, set along a garden walkway below the mountains.
Conceptual rendering

Concepts only. Operating models have not been approved and no launch schedule has been set.

The Village Commons

Inside the Workshops

Space, equipment and support to build real skills

The team's concept for the workshop buildings: places where adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities can develop skills, create high-quality products and contribute to the community, from the roaster to the loading bay.

Concept renderings from the Just Like Us team. Illustrative only, not final designs.

  • A coffee roastery with a copper roaster, a worker scooping beans and another packing branded bags.

    Coffee Roasting and Packaging

    From bean to bag. Building skills, confidence and community.

  • A print shop where workers screen print t-shirts under a wall sign reading Create, Learn, Work, Belong.

    Screen Printing and Apparel

    Creative products. Real skills. Meaningful work.

  • A woodshop with large garage doors open to the trees, a worker assembling engraved wooden boxes and tumblers.

    Laser Engraving and Woodworking

    Creativity in every detail. Skills for a brighter future.

  • Workers packing boxes at long tables in front of tall shelves of stock.

    Assembly and Fulfillment

    Packaging, organizing and shipping.

  • A retail display of branded coffee, hats, shirts and mugs on timber shelves.

    Product Showcase

    A retail space for high-quality products that give back.

  • A covered timber pavilion with people working at tables, open to mountain views.

    Outdoor Work Spaces

    Fresh air. New perspectives. More possibilities.

  • A loading bay with a forklift, stacked boxes and a branded delivery van at the open door.

    Loading and Delivery

    Products to the community and beyond.

For Employers

Built With Community Partners

Employers can play an important role by offering work experiences, jobs, mentoring, training and inclusive workplace practices.

JLU wants to work with businesses that see talent, reliability and contribution, and that are willing to build opportunity with us.

Explore an Employer Partnership

A community like this is built together.

Whether you want to support the mission, explore a partnership, or follow the journey, there is a place for you in what comes next.

  • Support the Mission

    Help JLU advance planning, partnerships and charitable programs as it moves from vision to implementation.

    Support JLU

  • Partner With Us

    For municipalities, employers, educators, nonprofits, public agencies and businesses.

    Explore partnership

  • Stay Connected

    Follow meaningful milestones and learn when new ways to participate become available.

    Join JLU updates