Get Joy Ice Cream & Coffee Shop Has a Mission Beyond Its Menu
Sara Heintzelman has spent nearly two decades working at the Centennial School of Lehigh University, an approved private school for students with emotional disorders and autism. She has watched them thrive inside the classroom, but finding that same level of support for those students in the workforce has been a different story.
That gap has stuck with her. Now, Heintzelman, a Hellertown native, is doing something about it by opening a business that will employ staff from across a neurodiverse spectrum.
Get Joy Ice Cream & Coffee on Rt. 378 in Lower Saucon Township is planning a late June opening with a mission that goes well beyond waffle cones and coffee.
The business will employ individuals with different abilities alongside retired, current and aspiring educators who serve as mentors, creating the kind of supportive work environment Heintzelman envisioned.
“I noticed over the last 10 years or so, when our students go to find jobs, it’s really difficult for them to find jobs that match the level of support that we provide at school,” said Heintzelman.
“So about 10 years ago, I set off to explore what would be a good business that could match the supports that we provide at school, also provide a good first job experience, and something that would be full of joy and positivity,” she explained.
The answer, after years of research and exploration, involved ice cream.
“Generally when people are eating ice cream, they’re pretty happy,” Heintzelman said. “Unless ice cream is on the floor, you’re pretty happy.”
From an Idea to a Full-Scale Coffee & Ice Cream Shop
Heintzelman didn’t just wing it. She enrolled in Penn State’s renowned ice cream school to learn the craft, took an additional online course and spent time observing how customers and employees interact in ice cream shops. What started as small batches for friends and family turned into a passion she couldn’t ignore.
“At first I thought, well, maybe it’s just my friends and family telling me that my ice cream is good,” she said. “But then, as I continued to share it with people, they just kept asking me for it.”
The concept had legs, but Heintzelman recognized one major challenge. Ice cream shops need something else to survive the winter months.
Her husband, Michael Pilato, had the solution.
Coffee.
Pilato, who will power Get Joy’s daily operations, attended the New Jersey Coffee School in Hoboken, N.J., to learn the trade. From there, the couple connected with Firehouse Coffee and Mike Adams, who created a signature brew exclusively for Get Joy.
“He knows everything about roasting. He’s also educated us very well and made us feel comfortable in this route of doing coffee with what he can provide,” Pilato said. “And he’s really got a premium product that’s already well-respected in Lehigh Valley.”
The coffee partnership opens the door for longer operating hours. Get Joy plans to open at 7 a.m. and stay open late into the evening, which directly supports the shop’s employment mission. Heintzelman pointed to a staggering statistic that drives the urgency behind their business model.
“Eighty percent of individuals with disabilities are unemployed,” she said. “And in order for us to give as many people an opportunity to work for us, we also needed to be open more hours.”
The menu will also feature tiny pancakes for the breakfast crowd, giving the shop a full morning-to-evening operation.
The Joy Crew
The heart of the business is its employees–a group Heintzelman calls the Joy Crew.
The hiring model is intentionally broad. Get Joy is bringing on individuals with different abilities–a phrase Heintzelman is keeping deliberately open-ended.
“Some of them will have a documented disability, and others will just need different things to be successful,” she said. “So we’re keeping that phrase open on purpose.”
To support those team members, the shop has hired retired, current and aspiring educators as mentors–a role that functions similarly to a management position. High school students are also being brought on as Junior Joy Mentors, serving as role models for workers who need additional support.
“But really, after everyone is hired, we’re considering them members of the Joy Crew, and that differentiation goes away,” Heintzelman said.
The response has already been overwhelming. Without much advertising beyond a single Facebook post, Get Joy has received over 40 applications.
“We have absolutely outstanding applicants and outstanding Joy Crew members so far,” Heintzelman said. “I truly believe that we will have some of the best employees in the Lehigh Valley, and we’re really excited to give them a fantastic employment experience.”
The inaugural Joy Crew is fully staffed. The shop will continue to accept applications, but those applicants won’t be part of the opening crew as attention shifts to training.
The Scoop: Get Joy’s Flavorful Menus
Get Joy plans to offer roughly 12 ice cream flavors on a regular basis to start, working up to 24 in the next year, including signature flavors, seasonal rotations and dairy-free options.
The rotating flavors will reflect what’s happening in the community–local high school events, and happenings in the Bethlehem and Hellertown areas–in a way that makes the shop feel like a genuine neighborhood gathering place.
“We really want to make sure that we are creating an environment where people want to come and feel part of the community that we’re creating,” Heintzelman said.
On the coffee side, the shop will carry its exclusive Firehouse Coffee signature blend alongside popular existing Firehouse blends. One of those blends, called Waffle Cone Mix, features vanilla and brown sugar–a natural pairing for a shop that can blend coffee and ice cream on the spot. Refreshers, teas and lemonades will round out the drink menu.
The shop, located at 3592 Rt. 378, Bethlehem, will also feature a fully accessible outdoor space designed for families.
“We really wanted to create the space that we would want our own family to go to,” Heintzelman said.
Looking Ahead: Soft Openings Before the Grand Opening
Get Joy is currently holding soft openings with limited hours to give employees time to get comfortable in their roles before serving the general public. These events are being announced on their Facebook and Instagram pages.
“It’s really important to us that they all feel successful, and we’re going to really break down the training in a way that helps them to understand each of the pieces of the store and helps us to figure out what each of them is good at,” Heintzelman said.
There are plenty of moving pieces–making ice cream, crafting waffle cones, working the checkout counter, making coffee, flipping tiny pancakes–and the training is structured so each member of the Joy Crew lands in the role that fits them best.
For more information, visit Get Joy’s website and follow the shop on Facebook and Instagram.
