By Andy Furman
Point/Arc
The battle is just beginning – at The Point/Perk Coffee Shop (43 W. Pike Street, Covington). And it continues through Easter Sunday.
“The competition is fierce,” said Rachelle Ungerman, Manager of the Point/Perk, one of four social enterprises owned and operated by The Point/Arc. “It’s real.”
The friendly battle is brewing between the Point Perk and Covington’s police and fire department. (Photo by Andy Furman/Point ARC)
What is real — the Covington Police and Fire Departments have bought in on the battle – and it has nothing to do with arrests or firefighting.
“It’s truly a first responder challenge,” says Ungerman, a Calvary Christian High School grad, who works five-to-six-days a week at the Point/Perk. “It’s all about who’s drink is better.”
Rachelle Ungerman, who started at The Point/Perk in September of 2023 knows her coffee. “I had experience managing a coffee bar in Corpus Christi, Texas before coming back to Northern Kentucky.”
So, all she did was create the menu – and hence – the challenge.
The Northern Kentucky drink for the Fire Department is The Backdraft.
“It is made with a pinch of Cayenne, white milk or chocolate and homemade vanilla. And it is served hot or cold,” Ungerman said.
As for the Police Department, they have The High-Speed Pursuit.
“We make that with blueberry, white chocolate and homemade vanilla,” she said. “And like The Backdraft, it is served hot or cold.”
And of course a portion of the proceeds go to Covington’s first responders. “They are both great drinks,” Ungerman said, “And giving back to the Fire and Covington Police Departments should make the competition pretty cool.”
Point Perk’s Rachelle Ungerman
Perhaps it was a stroke of fate that Ungerman and her talents connected with The Point/Arc.
“I didn’t know a thing about the mission of the non-profit organization,” she said. “In fact, one night I was sitting at home with my husband who happens to be an acquaintance of Leslie (Vickers, VP/Social Enterprises).
“He told me The Point/Arc was looking for someone to manage their coffee shop, so I applied. I knew I had the experience.
“I did remember stopping for a cup of coffee at The Point/Perk back in 2018 on my drive to Chicago for my daughter’s Navy Boot Camp Graduation,” she said.
But what Ungerman did not know about the 50-plus-year-old non-profit organization was the good and services it does for the entire Tri-state.
“I have had more fun working here than any previous place of employment,” she said. “When I first arrived, the helpers all threw their arms around me.”
That sounds like a real winner — just like the battle that is brewing at The Point/Arc.
The Point/Arc began in 1972 as a support group for parents of individuals with intellectual and developmental (I/DD) disabilities.
“We have grown to a holistic agency with a wide range of around the clock programs for more than 1,400 individuals with a variety of disabilities, from autism to down syndrome to many one of a kind diagnoses,” said President and Founder Judi Gerding.
“It is our mission to fill the service gaps and help individuals with I/DD live their dreams and become inclusive members of the community,” she said.
