MadCap Cafe

Ermha’s MadCap Cafés exist to achieve one goal – to assist people who are experiencing a mental illness who want to enter, or re-enter, the workforce. And we do it by focussing on what people can do, not what they can’t.

MadCap Café provides a six month transitional employment training program that offers

• Consistent, professional support
• Real on-the-job experience
• A “no wrong step” approach

Our starting point is the knowledge that a mental illness can mask a person’s abilities and is often accompanied by anxiety and a diminished sense of self-worth.

We also understand that recovery from a mental illness is rarely straightforward and will often include setbacks and delays. We provide supported opportunities to learn and master the social and job skills that promote self-confidence and competence that lead to the jobs our trainees want.

Trainees take the first step by starting a 40-hour pre-vocational program at Ermha’s Aspirations Dandenong day program. (This is part of what we call MAP, which stands for MadCap Aspirations Pathway.) At Aspirations trainees are paired with a key worker who is there to provide guidance and mentoring support each step of the way. Aspirations is also where trainees learn the basics of food safety and handling as well as take opportunities to refresh teamwork skills. Many trainees will also participate in a coffee making course at MadCap Café’s Training Centre.

When trainees feel ready they can do one or more trial shifts at one of our MadCap Cafés. At the successful completion of trial shifts, trainees are invited to take a place on the café roster, working a small number of hours each week at first and building their hours up as training progresses.

MadCap trainees learn skills which are highly sought after beyond the food and beverage industry
• customer service
• effective communication
• time management skills
• teamwork.

Ermha’s Aspirations program holds monthly information sessions for people who are interested in starting a MadCap Café traineeship.

View a story about MadCap Cafe by Channel 10′s “The Circle”