Montreal – July 10, 2023 – Federation CJA, together with JEM Workshop, Cummings Centre, Zera Café and Agence Ometz, are pleased to announce the opening of Café Soleil.
“Café Soleil prides itself on being a welcoming, affordable and inclusive environment that employs adults of all abilities,” says Maia Cooper, Executive Director, Atelier JEM Workshop.
“We are proud to launch this new initiative,” adds Cummings Centre Executive Director, Pauline Grunberg. “Café Soleil is a win-win for the community as participants can gather and socialize in a warm and welcoming environment while enjoying affordable, delicious kosher food prepared with love.”
“I am excited to see this café open as everyone should have the right to earn a living and to live their lives in dignity and with confidence,” says Yair Szlak, President and CEO of Federation CJA. “Federation CJA is proud to support its partners who provide these essential qualities and impact the lives of community members so profoundly. The fact that we get to have a delicious coffee or sandwich is a bonus too.”
Café Soleil is open from9:30 AM to 2:00 PM Monday to Thursday at the Cummings Centre, 5700 Westbury Ave.
Community partners include JEM Workshop, Cummings Centre, Zera Café and Agence Ometz.
About JEM Workshop
JEM Workshop is an adapted workplace that empowers and enables adults with all abilities in the Jewish and general community to lead meaningful lives by providing a variety of training and employment options throughout their life cycle. Mental health support, personal growth and increasing independence figure prominently in JEM’s service delivery, with a focus on employee resilience, improvement, and empowerment. JEM acts as a lifeline to over 90 employees, their families, and their support systems, while offering valuable work training, capacity-building, and life skills sessions. As one of Quebec’s 37 certified adapted enterprises, JEM is committed to the highest standards of disability employment, offering high quality packaging and fulfilment services to socially conscious businesses in the local and national community.
About The Cummings Centre
The Cummings Centre’s mission is to empower and enhance the quality of life of adults age 50 and over by providing dynamic and innovative programs, social services, and volunteer opportunities in a vibrant, respectful, inclusive and compassionate environment. Building on its Jewish heritage, Cummings embraces people from all ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic backgrounds. As the hub of Montreal’s 50+ community, the Cummings Centre touches the lives of 10,000 people on an annual basis. In keeping with the ever-changing needs of this demographic, Cummings has evolved into a multi-dimensional membership-based community organization offering programs and services in person at its main campus site at 5700 Westbury Avenue in Snowdon and various off-site locations throughout Montreal and online.
About Agence Ometz
Today, reaching almost 12,000 people annually, Agence Ometz is a Jewish human services agency offering social, employment and immigration services to help people fulfill their potential and to secure the growth and vibrancy of the Montreal community. Their mission is to deliver accessible, confidential, personalized, and culturally sensitive services based on Jewish values. Their staff members are responsive, compassionate, engaged, inspiring-and sensitive to the cultural and language needs of our diverse community.
About Zera Café
Zera Café is a not-for-profit meal service with a mission to employ neurodiverse young adults. In January 2022, after 3 years of operating, Zera Café moved into a modern larger kitchen in Cummings Square, became MK Certified, and hired a professional support and leadership team. This team and additional space created a structure to support our neurodiverse staff and our growth. Our ready-to-eat menu focuses on modern Israeli cuisine that is delicious, innovative, and vegetable-focused. We also now cater for events and meetings in schools, synagogues, and other agencies.
About Federation CJA
For over one hundred years, Federation CJA has been at the heart of the organized Jewish community in Montreal. In partnership with a vast network of agencies and organizations locally, nationally, and internationally, Federation CJA builds and sustains this community by providing leadership and by supporting the delivery of services and programs to care for the vulnerable and those in need, to ensure a bright Jewish future, to represent communal interests, and to positively affect issues in the wider society.
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