Juliana Gray and Ava Shahbahrami from Lexington SC both have Down syndrome and have been best friends for years.
The girls’ bond goes all the way back to first grade, when they first met.
In high school, Juliana and Ava took part in an occupational program that led to them working in cafeteria, and schools front office. They both recently began working at Bitty & Beau's coffee shop on Gervais Street which goes out of their way to hire folks who have some sort of disability. As a franchise they now employ over 400 people with disabilities nationwide.
While College seems out of reach for a lot of people (about 40% of HS. graduates don't enroll in any type of college), Juliana & Ava have worked very hard to keep their grades up and the 2 were accepted into the USC Aiken PACER Life program which only accepts 12 students per year.
Juliana is eager to get to college to make new friends and can’t wait to personalize her dorm, while Ava is already looking to the future and hopes to run her own donut shop one day and tells People Magazine “So I’m working (to learn) math and money,"