New handicapped-friendly café opens
First of its kind project offers special lighting for visually impaired, wide entrances for wheelchair bound, while providing employment for people with disabilities
A new café accessible for the disabled and operated by people with special needs has recently been opened in Ramat Yishai.
"Nagish Cafe" sets itself apart from the many cafes in the country by being accessible for people with virtually every kind of disability. It offers wide entrances for the wheelchair bound, special lighting for the visually impaired, brail menus for the blind and even an acoustic ceiling for the hearing impaired.
The new establishment, a joint project with the rehabilitation foundation, offers employment and a sense of community for those unable to find work due to physical and mental conditions.
"All of us have left the workforce due to health problems," said Yael Yaniv, the group's spokesperson. "And following the business entrepreneurship course we took at the local council's welfare department in collaboration with the accessible community foundation, we set up the café."
Eli Fitlesh, who works at the café, said, "I began the whole process so I would have a reason to wake up each morning. The goal was to start directing attention to all those with special needs. I don't like the word 'disabilities' because once you provide special services to whomever requires them, they are automatically no longer disabled."
A café like no other (Photo: Hagai Dekel)
Chef Yaron Niran, the café's manager, said that managing the establishment is a decidedly different undertaking than running any other café or restaurant. "As an employer I have learned to cope with people's special needs, with special cases which would not have been allowed elsewhere."
The team, which is comprised of people with special needs and volunteers, creates a warm and supportive family environment which gives the place a unique quality.
One of a kind place
"I educate the future generation in accordance with the values which are derived from the daily management of the café. This combination contributes to each and every one of us, but also to the customers who frequent the place," Niran added.
The café is designed in a rustic and homey style and offers a dairy menu, which includes homemade jams and sauces. One can also acquire handmade items prepared by people with special needs.
The café also hosts a line of artists, authors, singers and lecturers which attract a wider-ranging crowd. "There is only one such place in Israel," Niran says, "It’s a great shame there aren’t more like it."
