Scott Wartman

swartman@enquirer.com

Mark Resing loves his job.

Since Point Perk coffee shop opened on Pike Street in Covington in December, the 54-year-old has enjoyed filling cabinets, cleaning dishes and welcoming customers.

Resing lives in one of the group homes owned by nonprofit The Point/Arc of Northern Kentucky, which employs people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in its businesses, such as the coffee shop.

“It’s busy,” Resing said. “They make a lot of coffee. We all work together to do the job.”

Point Perk management hopes to find enough money to continue the coffee shop past April.

A $35,000 grant from the Hatton Foundation allowed The Point/Arc to open Point Perk across from its offices. The Point Restaurant operated there from 1982 to 2008.

Point Perk is one of four businesses the nonprofit operates and staffs with people who have developmental and intellectual disabilities. The organization also operates a silk screening company, a commercial cleaning company and a commercial laundry.

The money from the grant that paid for the coffee shop is dwindling.

There’s $11,000 left. The organization will try to raise $30,000 to ensure they will have enough to pay the $140 per day in salaries for the coffee shop over the next year, said coffee shop manager Emily Williams and Point spokeswoman Patty Murphy.

Five of the Point/Arc clients work in the shop with the help of volunteers and the manager.

“It’s important because a lot of our employees are home with their families if they’re not here,” Williams said. “This gives them a chance to interact with people outside of their family.”

Across the street, Covington has planned one of its largest developments, a $20 million apartment complex called Duveneck Square.

The coffee shop hopes that will bring in more people, Williams said.

The shop has broke even on average, selling about $140 worth of coffee a day thanks to regulars like Austin Dunbar. Dunbar owns Durham Brand & Co. nearby and often stops in for coffee. He said he has an intern at his design studio from the Point.

“All this is communal, hand-in-glove for the community,” Dunbar said. “I think it’s a really good thing, the mission, what they’re here for. And the coffee’s good.”

The slim margins, however, leave little room for slow days. The Point is seeking grants and donations from the public to create a buffer. The Point/Arc management hopes by the end of April to find money to keep the coffee shop open, said Judi Gerding, president and founder of the Point. Gerding thinks they’ll be able to do it.

“I think things are moving well,” Gerding said. “I think we’re always into doing new things, filling in the service gaps, mission first, money second. As long as we don’t lose large amounts of money, we’re OK with supplementing the budget.”

Want to help?

•Where: 43 W. Pike St., Covington.

•Hours: 7 a.m. to noon, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to noon Saturday.

•To donate: The Point/Arc of Northern Kentucky, 104 W. Pike St., Covingotn Covington, Ky. KY 41011 or call 859-491-9191.