July 18, 2024
For the past few years, Daniel Lach has mainly worked in the shadows at Zera Café, preparing ready-to-eat meals out of Zera’s dairy/pareve kitchen at Federation CJA.
Nowadays, he is front and centre, serving customers behind the counter at Pigeon dans le Parc, a brand-new café space staffed by Zera Café’s neurodivergent young adults operating out of the chalet at Hampstead Park. This latest venture is the result of a partnership with Pigeon in collaboration with the town of Hampstead and the Azrieli Foundation, who provided its first-ever $100,000 INfinity Prize to Zera last year.
It was Zera’s relocation from Shaare Zion Beth El Congregation’s kitchen into Federation CJA’s modern space in January 2022, that kickstarted their rapid expansion. The move into a larger kitchen allowed Zera to add to its staff and hire a new chef. It also afforded Zera greater visibility and thus enabled them to develop successful ongoing partnerships with community organizations, including the Segal Centre and Ometz.
Zera has also greatly benefitted from Federation CJA’s Working Together: Community Impact Grant. The grant encourages two or more impact partners to launch collaborative initiatives that identify new solutions, maximize resources and build capacity – both ours and theirs. Last year, JEM Workshop invited Zera, the Cummings Centre and Ometz to collaborate in launching and running Café Soleil, an inclusive and affordable café offering nutritious kosher food prepared by neurodiverse employees. This year, Zera is partnering with Chai Lifeline and Bikur Cholim in forming Comfort Cuisine, a meal support service for families dealing with critical illnesses.
In addition to the funding, participating organizations of the Working Together Grant Program are also invited to workshops with experts to help them develop and implement exciting new initiatives.
“We are seeing that the Working Together Grant Program is having an impact in how organizations in the community are valuing new partnerships and collaborations,” said Pamela Teitelbaum, Chief Strategy & Impact Officer for Federation CJA. “We are aiming to shift the community mindset to see each partner and service provider as part of an ecosystem working together for the greater good.”
For neurodivergent young adults like Daniel, these partnerships have translated into new and exciting job opportunities.
“It is completely different from what Daniel is used to,” said Pigeon dans le Parc supervisor Sara Levy, who has overseen Daniel at Zera Café for 2 ½ years. “He is accustomed to a very high-paced environment in the kitchen. It is not that here. He’s open and willing to change, which is not so common. It’s been great.”
“It’s different for him socially too,” added his mother Randi Karpman. “He’s used to being in the back with his colleagues. Now, he has to greet new people when they come in. It’s giving him valuable life skills.”
Zera Café has been much more than a job for Daniel. He has made friends with whom he regularly socializes outside of work.
“He has a beautiful life and a beautiful future in front of him because of Zera Café,” said his mother.
Pigeon dans le Parc is located at 30 Lyncroft St. in Hampstead Park. They are open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends. To learn more about Zera’s mission or for information about catering options, visit zeracafe.ca.
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