During her time at Tandem Employment Services, Cassidy Dellemonache said she has watched people with disabilities struggle to find employers. After years spent searching for opportunities to help people, she said she began to think about how she could create them herself.

“I’ve been working with people with disabilities for the last 10 years and really trying to get jobs in the community,” Dellemonache said. “(I thought), well, things aren’t working, so I guess I’ll go do it.”

Dellemonache said she originally imagined starting an ice cream truck business to create jobs for the people she worked with. She found one she intended to buy, but while she was out of town, it sold.

Soon after, though, she saw a sign advertising an available storefront.

After deciding to pursue a brick-and-mortar store, Dellemonache said she did not have to pay rent for the first several months, which gave her room to get the business off the ground.

“All (of) the doors just kind of opened,” Dellemonache said.

About a month later, in October 2024, Tandem Squared opened. The short turnaround meant Dellemonache had to learn most of the coffee and ice cream business as she went. She said she researched the industry, recruited help and ordered a book on opening an ice cream shop.

Now walking into Tandem, there is plenty to take in before deciding what to order. A mural of a rising sun over the Rocky Mountains stretches across the back wall and rolled ice cream is made behind a counter that sometimes disappears beneath clouds of pink and blue cotton candy. Around the shop, mismatched furniture, handmade goods, toys and a small pink claw machine add to the shop’s decor.

The menu follows the same spirit. This fall, customers can order apple-pie chai, peach-pie matcha and s’more mocha, along with the “Magical Mermaid,” a fresh-squeezed lemonade with boba and edible glitter. Rolled ice cream options include an affogato with espresso over vanilla sweet cream rolls and the “Dubai Pistachio,” made with pistachio, kadayif — a Middle Eastern pastry dish — and a chocolate shell. 

The rest of the shop changes with the people who fill it: A large study group can spread laptops and notebooks across the downstairs meeting space; children can dig through games and toys while their families settle into couches nearby; and upstairs, a first date might unfold at a mismatched table, while warmer weather draws customers and their dogs onto the courtyard patio.

Layton Delmonica, a Colorado State University student who has worked at Tandem Squared on and off for two years, has watched the shop evolve firsthand.

“We’ve been growing a lot,” Delmonica said. 

Growth has also brought challenges. Dellemonache said finances and struggles attracting new customers have been among the more difficult parts of running Tandem. Those challenges became especially real this summer, when Tandem temporarily closed after struggling to make ends meet.

“On months when money was tight, I paid the people,” Dellemonache wrote in a GoFundMe she created in July with the goal of reopening the shop. The community responded in their hour of need and — as of Sept. 23 — raised $9,715 from 95 donations.

At the time, Tandem employed 11 people, seven of whom identified as people with disabilities. Dellemonache explained how the shop often schedules two employees during hours when another cafe might operate with one. She also choses to pay her employees rather than use unpaid volunteers or apprenticeship positions, increasing payroll costs but preserving the paid opportunities at the center of its mission.

Delmonica also spoke warmly about Dellemonache.

“She is an absolutely wonderful person,” Delmonica said.

Tandem remains tied to the mission that started it, creating paid opportunities for people who may struggle in traditional workplaces. This initial goal has evolved to a place that serves coffee, rolled ice cream and something Dellemonache said she values most: connections.

“Success is measured in the stories I get to hear and the people I’ve connected with,” Dellemonache said. “I really love it.”

Reach Scout Kingsley at life@collegian.com or on social media @RMCollegian.