We recently connected with the director of Peter’s Pit Stop and have shared our conversation below.
Mark, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?
Peter’s Pit Stop exists to provide purpose, productivity, and skills for adults with cognitive and developmental disabilities. Our organization started back in 2020 when Peter was laid off from his job at a coffee shop in downtown Charleston. When the coffee shop restarted its operation, Peter was not hired back. Despite his love for work, we searched the local community for job opportunities but found none. After much prayer on the subject, the idea emerged to serve our local community coffee. To test the idea, we made a post on our local Facebook page and asked the community if they would support Peter serving our neighbors coffee. The response was overwhelming, a resounding yes, and thus Peter’s Pit Stop was born in January 2021. This mission is important because many individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) struggle to find employment, resulting in an unemployment rate of approximately 80%. In the future, we hope to open a “brick and mortar” storefront and hire additional IDD individuals to serve the community and provide jobs for them.
Mark, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
The previous shop Peter worked for was a coffee shop, so he gained experience and knowledge in the coffee business as a “barista.” Peter enjoyed this type of work, making it a natural fit to serve our community by providing coffee. Our main goal is to provide job opportunities for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, addressing the pressing need for employment in South Carolina. While we are excited about Peter’s job at PPS, we are even more excited about creating many more jobs for individuals in similar situations. We are thrilled to have the opportunity to educate our community about IDD individuals and support them in their entrepreneurial endeavors whenever possible.
How did you build your audience on social media?
We had been open for approximately six months when we noticed a decline in the number of neighbors coming to PPS. A friend suggested that we create a Facebook and Instagram page as a form of “free” advertising to help grow our service to the community. Taking their advice, we created a Facebook page and an Instagram page, although we were inexperienced in using social media. However, after approximately one month of posting, we noticed that the number of neighbors we served doubled. To further establish our presence, we eventually created a website, which added authenticity to PPS. We have continued to grow our social media presence and constantly seek ways to improve our reach and impact on these platforms. We highly recommend that any non-profit or small business utilize social media to extend their reach and connect with their customers.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
We take great joy in serving our neighbors every day that we are open. To ensure success for individuals with IDD who are working, we keep our menu offerings small and simple. This approach allows Peter (and future employees) to thrive. Our goal is to serve our neighbors with love and a smile, provide an excellent product and go above and beyond to make each person feel special. As a faith-based nonprofit, we offer prayers for those neighbors who are open to it. We have a prayer board on our wall where we keep track of prayer requests, and we have witnessed many remarkable answers to prayer over the past couple of years. 
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.peterspitstop.org/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peterspitstop/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PetersPitStopSC/
Image Credits
These are all original photos. Not sure what I need to credit.