Montreal – February 11, 2022 – Federation CJA is pleased to welcome Zera Café into its facilities at 1 Cummings Square on Cote Sainte-Catherine Road. Zera Café is a not-for-profit, social enterprise catering business that employs people with developmental disabilities. The operation has moved into the dairy / pareve kitchen at Federation CJA where it will prepare 'Ready-To-Eat' delivered meals.

Zera Café is unique in that the business hires and trains neurodiverse adults and helps them to develop skills, self-confidence and achieve social and financial independence. Of particular note, and pride, is the fact that this announcement coincides with Jewish Disability Awareness and Inclusion Month.

"Federation CJA is pleased to support programs and people of all levels of ability and to encourage their full and meaningful participation in Montreal Jewish communal life," said Yair Szlak, CEO of Federation CJA. "With Zera Café we are taking our Inclusion-funded programs beyond schools, camps and recreation environments into the supported employment milieu, right in our own headquarters."

There are approximately 16,000 people aged 15 and over living with disabilities in the Montreal Jewish community. Federation CJA is committed to delivering community care with compassion and fostering spaces where everyone in our community feels like they belong.

"The partnership of Federation CJA and Zera Café is yet another impactful synergy," said Carly Goodman, Senior Manager, Community Belonging & Disability Inclusion, Federation CJA. "We have a strong desire to build community for everyone to benefit, and in housing this disability-focused social enterprise we are continuing to lead by example."

Eve Rochman is the founder of Zera Café. She says her mission, "is to grow a catering business that provides supportive and meaningful work for people with developmental disabilities and to produce modern Israeli cuisine that is delicious, innovative and vegetable-focused."

In addition to catering delicious food, Zera Café provides adults of intellectual diversity an opportunity for employment, source of income, personal growth, social interaction, and a sense of purpose. "The café is more than a catering service or job, it provides meaningful employment with a strong sense of community within its four walls," Rochman says. "We are so appreciative that Federation CJA has rolled out the red carpet for us and is helping us to get started for this next chapter of Zera Café."

Zera Café's expansion in a new, larger kitchen located in the Federation CJA building will provide the space needed to grow capacity and most importantly to offer meaningful employment to adults of all abilities.

For more information on Zera Café's modern Israeli and MK certified cuisine, or to place an order, visit zeracafe.ca.

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.

Media Contact:
Glenn J. Nashen
Associate Director (Interim) | Directeur Associé (par interim)
Strategic Marketing and Communications | Marketing Stratégique et communications
FEDERATION CJA
[email protected]

Zera Café Contact:
Eve Rochman
[email protected]