Reality Kitchen on River Road is organized chaos. The constantly busy cash register sits next to a case of cakes, pies and pastries. In the back, a team of bakers turn out Bavarian pretzels and ciabatta bread for hungry customers and surrounding restaurants.
In an adjoining room sit empty shelves and glass containers. Founders Jim Evangelista and Catherine Pickup are expanding Reality Kitchen’s services for people experiencing intellectual disabilities, and will use that adjoining room to establish a general store thanks to a $55,000 matching dollar-for-dollar donation pledge from the Jules Kessler Foundation, and others providing services for discounted prices.
Reality Kitchen is a nonprofit dedicated to job training and finding employment paths for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD). It offers in-person skills training and supported employment in the café, bakery and wholesale bakery.
Evangelista says the expansion is in response to a lack of post-secondary school pathways for people with I/DD locally, and potential federal protections abandonment for people with I/DD.
The general store will carry Reality Kitchen’s breads, buns, hoagies, pretzels, sweet treats and pies, a range of locally produced and packaged food items and beverages, as well as necessities, for those of all income levels, the nonprofit’s funding proposal says. “There will be pre-made sandwiches, soups, meals, other grab and go items, as well as a changing bulk item section.”
According to the funding request, the total budget for the expansion project is $190,976.
After the 2026 General Election’s blue wave, Evangelista says, “We can’t be lulled into a sense of false security, particularly over the next two years of the current administration being led by [Donald] Trump and [Stephen] Miller.” He says he’s anticipating more cuts and hardships due to closing Salvos. “I believe it takes as long to get out of the woods as it took to get into it, and a little longer to account for wandering.”
Earlier this year, June 18, the Department of Justice released a memo stating the federal government is not accountable for upholding the landmark case Olmstead v. L.C., which made it illegal to unjustly segregate people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and set a precedent of community and at-home care.
Evangelista says he’s also still processing how on Oct. 15, a gunman opened fire on a special education classroom at Silver Rail Elementary in Bend. The shooter was a former special education student.
“Clearly, it’s horrible. And still, there’s something to be said for how individuals who experience disabilities are integrated into our community and part of our daily interactions and lives,” Evangelista says. “We’re committed to removing the stigmas individuals with I/DD have lived with traditionally and maintain a genuine, community-based, integrated workplace setting where individuals of all abilities work and learn together.”
The new general store is one opportunity to provide more job opportunities, income and to further institutionalize the nonprofit in the Eugene community. Evangelista says early on, he and Pickup decided to mimic a for-profit model, so as to not be reliant on constant fundraising and donation efforts. According to 2024 data from Propublica Nonprofit Explorer, a majority of Reality Kitchen’s funding is revenue from the café and wholesale bakery, and from individual contributions.
“Commitment to our unique and forward-looking mission has required that we engage in traditional and targeted grant writing and community-based fundraising activities,” Evangelista says.
After over 20 years of teaching, Evangelista and Pickup saw a lack of out-of-classroom opportunities for their students,quit their jobs as special educators and learned how to bake. They founded Reality Kitchen as a nonprofit in 2010. Pickup serves as the program director, developing individual support plans for interns and trainees so everyone comes out of the program unscathed and meeting their goals, she says.
Evangelista, as the executive director, hunches over grant applications and corresponds with local donors.
“We kind of created the jet airplane while we were flying in midair and using the things we had in our back pocket,” Evangelista says.
In 2013, Evangelista and Pickup learned the recipe for the Bavarian pretzel from a baker on River Road. When that baker was set to close down his bakery, he donated the recipe, space and equipment to Reality Kitchen.
The pair ran themselves ragged for years, until the COVID-19 pandemic hit. They took the dip in business to create a curriculum they could replicate in the years to come.
“They keep coming back like family,” Pickup says of Reality Kitchen’s clientele.
Reality Kitchen employee Jayson Caldell works all around the kitchen, making pumpkin snickerdoodles, doing dishes and delivering orders. He says his brain works a mile a minute, and translating his thoughts into words is difficult. He’s one of over 130 students who have graduated from the program.
Knowing he can’t do this forever, Evangelista says he is looking for new voices and perspectives to shepherd the organization into the future. The general store is a tool for transition, as it requires less staffing and labor cost while expanding retail opportunity.
“I’ve had some health issues that, you know, have been kind of daunting,” Evangelista says. I don’t have as much snap in the rubber band like I used to. I really want to make sure that there’s some solid planning and process going on.”
Reality Kitchen is located at 645 River Road. The cafe and bakery are open Thursday through Friday 10 am to 6 pm and Saturday 9 am to 2 pm. The Pretzel Wagon is open Sunday through Wednesday 11 am to 6 pm. Visit RealityKitchen.org for more information.