by Aviyah Atkin
This year has been an incredible year for Yachad Israel, particularly in the brand new Vocational Program that Director, Lisa Galinsky started just this year! In this program, one of the main focuses for the Yachad participants is learning and preparing for jobs in the workplace. They have learned retail skills, social skills, life and professional skills and more.
In order to bring all this learning to life, we came up with an idea to open up the “Yachad Cafe” as an event. The Yachad participants were extremely enthusiastic and worked very hard to make this dream become a reality. Whether it was by shopping, practicing the different roles in a Cafe, setting up the place, and even preparing the food – they were determined to make this a night that no one would forget! Every single detail was thought of!
And so it was! This past Monday night, we had a Pop Up Dairy Cafe, led by our very own Chef Nikki Sadek. We completely re-designed the Yachad Center to a Cafe. We expected 60 guests and in fact had DOUBLE the turn out, and even a waiting list. The Yachad participants were absolutely incredible in all their roles and the positive energy was tangible. The guests had the best time, and we haven’t stopped getting compliments since! It was truly amazing. All profits will be used for scholarships :)
We hope to do this more often next year, as it is an incredible learning experience and inclusive experience for all. We are so proud of our Yachad participants who accomplished so many of their goals this year, including this. We know they have a bright future and it is our hope and dream to continue to help them reach all that they wish.
A big thank you to all those who were a part of this special night between the Yachad participants, their families, our guests, our staff and volunteers! Together we can accomplish incredible things!