By 2026, Robin Rinearson’s two Fairfax County businesses have become more than neighbourhood food shops, they have become workplaces where people with disabilities can build skills, confidence and independence.
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people → become → skills
When retired optometrist Robin Rinearson opened Jake’s Ice Cream in Virginia in 2021, her goal was not simply to sell scoops of ice cream.
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goal → open → cream
She wanted to create something she felt was missing: meaningful, long-term employment opportunities for people with disabilities.
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she → want → disabilities
Five years later, that small idea has grown into two businesses employing 35 people, 24 at Jake’s Ice Cream and 11 at Jake’s Gourmet Popcorn.
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idea → grow → Popcorn
Rinearson now says she has a waiting list of people hoping to work there.
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she → say → people
The story was reported by local news outlet FFXnow after Fairfax County supervisors recognised Rinearson on August 25 for her inclusive hiring practices.
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supervisors → report → practices
Earlier this summer, the Professional Baseball Athletic Trainers Society (PBATS) also named her a 2026 Ability Transcends Challenges Award recipient.
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Society → name → her
It began with her nephew
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It → begin → nephew
The ice-cream shop was named after Rinearson’s nephew, Jake, who has cerebral palsy.
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who → name → palsy
Before the pandemic, Jake had held a job for years.
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Jake → hold → years
But when Covid-19 disrupted workplaces, Rinearson became increasingly concerned about how easily people with disabilities could be pushed out of employment when adequate accommodations were not available.
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accommodations → disrupt → employment
That experience helped shape her decision to open Jake’s Ice Cream in August 2021.
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experience → shape → August
Earlier reporting by Patch found that the shop initially employed 11 people, many of whom had been patients of Rinearson’s optometry practice.
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many → find → practice
Employees were trained to handle everything from making ice cream and waffle cones to packing pints and decorating cakes and other confections.
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Employees → train → cakes
The idea was straightforward: give people a real job, teach them skills and allow them to become more independent.
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them → give → skills
From one ice-cream shop to two businesses
Jake’s Ice Cream, located in the Barcroft Plaza Shopping Center in Lincolnia, now has 24 employees.
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Cream → locate → employees
The business was followed by Jake’s Gourmet Popcorn, which opened three years ago at Seven Corners Shopping Center.
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which → follow → Center
Eleven people work there, bringing the combined workforce of the two businesses to 35.
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people → work → 35
Many of her workers stay for years and often recommend the jobs to friends.
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Many → stay → friends
The result, she said, is unusual for a small business: there is a waiting list of prospective employees.
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she → say → employees
The job is meant to lead somewhere
Rinearson does not view the stores simply as places where employees can spend their working lives.
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employees → mean → lives
The skills they learn, from serving customers and handling food to working as part of a team and completing workplace responsibilities, can potentially help them pursue other employment opportunities.
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them → learn → opportunities
Fairfax County’s proclamation similarly highlighted the businesses for strengthening employees’ independence, developing workplace skills and helping create a more inclusive community.
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proclamation → highlight → community
The approach is also consistent with what Rinearson has said about the shop in earlier interviews.
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Rinearson → say → interviews
In 2022, she described the business as a place where employees could receive meaningful, year-round work rather than simply seasonal employment.
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employees → describe → employment
A national award brings wider attention
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award → bring → attention
In July 2026, PBATS selected Jake’s Gourmet Popcorn and Jake’s Ice Cream as its Washington, DC-area recipient of the Ability Transcends Challenges Award.
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PBATS → select → Award
The annual programme recognises businesses committed to disability inclusion and employment.
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programme → recognise → inclusion
In 2026, PBATS expanded the awards to include one organisation in each of the 30 MLB cities, with the National Down Syndrome Society as a partner and support from the US Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy.
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PBATS → expand → Policy
PBATS president Nick Kenney said the programme is built around the idea that opportunity, support and inclusion should extend beyond sport and into communities and workplaces.
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opportunity → say → communities
For Rinearson, that philosophy has played out behind an ice-cream counter and inside a popcorn shop.
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philosophy → play → shop
What began as a way to make sure people like her nephew had somewhere to work has become a small local employment ecosystem, one where the unusual problem is no longer finding people who want the jobs, but having more people waiting for a chance to get one.
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people → begin → one
The Aporia
