Hundreds of businesses and individuals have offered space to a special coffee shop in Shanghai after news spread that the charity cafe dedicated to children with autism had lost its temporary city location.

A Coffee, better known as the “lonely cafe,” is not just another coffee shop around the corner. Opened in early April at a quiet location inside an office building, the shop is, in fact, a social activity center providing vocational training for children with autism spectrum disorder, preparing them to enter the society and blend in with other people. 

For the past month, eight autistic teenagers aged around 16 have taken apprenticeships at A Coffee, learning to brew and serve as baristas and waiters.

Given the children’s conditions, not everyone could walk into the café to grab a coffee. Customers were carefully chosen from applicants who volunteered to help the children. After appropriate training, the applicants could place orders and communicate with the staff.

The café was founded by music artist Cao Peng and his daughter Cao Xiaoxia, and co-hosted by China Children and Teenagers’ Foundation and Shanghai Children’s Foundation.

Cao and his daughter have been teaching autistic children to play instruments and participate in international orchestra events for the past 10 years. Seeing the children grow up, Cao Xiaoxia came up with the idea of preparing them for adulthood and equipping them with vocational skills.

The café’s initiative has gained great popularity and was met with overwhelming support. However, at the beginning of May, the owner of the office building where A Coffee located told Cao Xiaoxia that they had to move since the company needed the space for commercial purposes.

“In the beginning, we thought the café was a temporary campaign,” Ji Yanglin, brand marketing manager of Jinghu Group that owns the building told the Paper. Initially, the company offered the venue to A Coffee for free to support the charity activity, but they didn’t anticipate how influential the café would grow to be. As the company needed the premises back for commercial uses, they offered compensation and asked Cao to relocate.

After the café closed on May 6, over 500 individuals, businesses and organizations offered to help A Coffee reopen, Cao told the Paper, adding they have decided on their future partner and are in negotiations regarding the floor plan. For now, the shop has been temporarily relocated to the nearby Shanghai Culture Square.

The mother of one of the autistic café staff has been speaking about her son's development.

“In two weeks, his language ability has been improved and he could commute to work by himself. He's looking forward to learning barista skills,” Shen Yanjun told local radio network More News. “He just set out the first step. [If the café closes] he will retreat and everything will return to the starting point.”

An official report published last year shows that about 10 million people suffer from autism spectrum disorder in China. They have communication difficulties and sometimes severe disabilities, and most require lifelong care and remain unemployed. In Shanghai, only one out of the 230,000 people with autism successfully found formal employment by the end of last year.