Wisconsin’s first accessible food truck is coming to Green Bay this spring

Wisconsin is getting its first accessible food truck for workers with disabilities.

The Aging & Disability Resource Center of Brown County unveiled the project Thursday. The food truck should be ready to hit the road this spring. It’s being built by Caged Crow in St. Germain, and it’ll join just a handful of accessible food trucks across the country.

The truck is currently being designed. It’ll be a bit larger than a traditional food truck, and will include a ramp for wheelchair users and counters of varying heights. The truck will include an espresso machine and serve healthy food options, said ADRC Director Devon Christianson.

The project will provide employment opportunities for people who haven’t historically been part of the workforce, said Brown County Executive Troy Streckenbach.

“When we think about inclusion, diversity, these are critical aspects that allow us as a community to really be welcoming,” he said.

The ADRC already operates a popular cafe at its downtown Green Bay facility. The agency launched Grounded Cafe in 2018 after hearing for years about age discrimination and high unemployment rates for people with disabilities, Christianson said.

“We wanted to use a social innovation model within our nutrition program to create new space where everyone belongs, abilities are celebrated and our community can gather,” she said.

Now that it’s going mobile, the ADRC will be able to serve even more community members, Christianson said.

“The concept behind the food truck is taking what we know works and bringing it out into the community beyond our brick-and-mortar walls,” she said.

Not only will it provide several jobs, but the truck will also allow the agency to address isolation by traveling to more rural areas of the county, and it’ll bring along resources on benefits, nutrition and other topics, Christianson said.

The truck’s routes aren’t yet planned, but it’ll attend local events and food truck rallies to bring visibility to the ADRC. It’ll also visit areas where the agency isn’t already serving a large number of clients, Christianson said.

“It’s about getting people together to connect and to learn from one another,” she said.

The ADRC received a $100,000 grant for the project from the David. L. and Rita E. Nelson Family Fund.