4 Baysider helps people with autism succeed in workplace
QUEENS WEEKLY, MARCH 17, 2019
BY JENNA BAGCAL
A Bayside woman is helping
individuals with autism
join the workforce in a delicious
and healthy way.
In 2015, Dr. Lisa Liberatore
founded the Luv
Michael Granola company,
a Long Island City-based
nonprofit which aims to
“train, educate and employ
people with autism and special
needs.” She was inspired
after she noticed that there
was not enough being done
to help people with autism,
including her son, figure out
the skills they could use in
the workforce.
“They were graduating
and sort of figuring out what
their life was gonna look like
afterward,” said Liberatore.
“That concerned me and my
husband and we started to
look at what are Michael’s
interests and what are his
abilities and how could
that be translated into a
meaningful life for him.”
She also shared that Michael
had always had a love
of food but found it hard to
break into the culinary industry
without a high school
diploma. So in partnership
with her husband Dr. Dimitri
Kessaris, Libertore started
Luv Michael which utilizes
a “culinary entrepreneurial
model” to manufacture and
sell granola.
Liberatore chose granola
as a way to reinforce
the company’s mission of
people with autism following
a healthy lifestyle. She said
that those with the condition
are often obese due to the use
of food as reinforcement and
also a lack of exercise.
A typical day for the 12
Luv Michael employees — 10
young men and two young
women — begins the night
before work. The employees
are required to clean and
press their uniforms, pack a
lunch and go to bed early.
Employees or “granologists”
are split into two
groups during their 9 a.m.
to 2 p.m. workday: one
group starts in the kitchen
and the other group sits
through lessons in a classroom.
Classes are taught by
Sarah Kull, who personalizes
the food-centric lessons
for each employee based on
their abilities.
One of the main goals in
the Luv Michael classroom
is to prepare individuals to
earn their food safety and
ServSafe certifications so
that they might move on to
other ventures outside of the
company. Liberatore said
that some of her former employees
have left to further
their education or get fulltime
jobs in other kitchens.
In the kitchen, each person
follows the 12-step process
to make the granola,
which starts with weighing
and measuring the ingredients
and ends with packaging
the product and applying labels.
On average, Liberatore
said that they make about
500 bags of granola per day.
The company is currently
based in LIC, but Liberatore
said they are planning to
open their own freestanding
location in Tribeca over the
next few months. She shared
that the bigger space will allow
the company to hire more
people for regular day shifts,
night shifts and weekends.
Luv Michael Granola is
currently sold in 60 stores
across New York City and
the Hamptons. Click here to
find a location near you or
to inquire about a monthly
granola subscription. To
learn more about the company’s
speaking engagements
and employment opportunities,
visit the Luv
Michael website.
All proceeds from
sales go toward training,
educating and employing
individuals with autism.
Luv Michael teaches people with autism how to make granola from start to finish.
Courtesy of Luv Michael