Disability Inclusion Projects & Initiatives

JDAIM

A History of JDAIM at Federation CJA

For the fifth year in a row, Federation CJA has taken the lead as a key convener to unite the Montreal Jewish community under the umbrella of JDAIM (Jewish Disability Awareness, Acceptance and Inclusion Month). JDAIM started 14 years ago in the United States to raise awareness around disability issues and is now celebrated throughout North American Jewish communities.

For JDAIM 2020, approximately 30 local organizations participated, up from 26 in 2019. Federation CJA-led initiatives included a professional workshop, various speaker events, and a special movie night. For JDAIM 2021, community celebrations pivoted and were held virtually in the context of COVID-19 and a worldwide pandemic. JDAIM 2022 celebrations involved over 30 organizations locally and nationally, with nearly 40 unique offerings hosted across the community, that involved the participation of approximately 2,200 + community members from diverse walks of life, ages, and levels of ability.

Montreal’s JDAIM 2023 celebrations involved over 50 collaborators, including organizations, departments, and speakers, with more than 40 unique offerings hosted across the community. These initiatives involved the participation of more than 3000 community members from diverse walks of life, ages, and levels of ability. The initiatives helped to raise awareness and foster acceptance and inclusion of people living with disabilities and mental health challenges.

Click here for the JDAIM Calendar of events

JDAIM 2023 Micro-Grants

For the first time due to generous support from our donors, and the fundraising efforts of Federation CJA, we launched a new JDAIM 2023 Micro-Grant initiative. This new JDAIM 2023 Micro-Grant opportunity empowered organizations to lead by example for JDAIM 2023 by helping them to alleviate financial costs associated with running initiatives championed by an organization in the month of February as a part of JDAIM.

In this first iteration, the JDAIM 2023 Microgrants were awarded to 9 non-profit organizations including Jewish Day Schools and Synagogues. These initiatives involved collaborations between 24 community organizations, schools, speakers, and synagogues culminating in 33 collaborative opportunities:

Micro Grant Recipients:

Adath Israel: Shabbat Speaker Series featuring Zera Café and Giant Steps
Adath Israel Sisterhood: Collaboration with Adath Israel and Summit Flora for a month-long floral sale
Bialik High School: School-wide interactive presentation with Luca "Lazy Legs” Patuelli, Summit School, John Grant High School, Friendship Circle, The Center for Integration into Active Life
DeLaMie Bakery: Challah bake for individuals of all abilities welcoming all Ukrainian refugees in collaboration with Agence Ometz, Friendship Circle, The Jewish Russian Community Center (JRCC) and Federation CJA’s Russian Jewish Speakers (RSJ)
Friendship Circle of Montreal: Fashion and Jewelry show focused on accessible clothing lines in collaboration with beading company Frabels Inc. and Suetables
Hebrew Foundation School: Friendship activities and field trip in collaboration with Friendship Circle and Summit School
Maison Shalom: Integration of a music specialist with special needs (student from Beth Jacob School) with their staff and residents
Solomon Schechter Academy: School-wide assembly showcasing a concert with The Montreal Shira Choir and speakers from the Friendship Circle and baked goods from DeLaMie Bakery
Zera Café: Movie night outing in collaboration with members of The Montreal Shira Choir and employees of Promo 21 and volunteers from Bialik High School

Click here to view the community impact report

Web Accessibility Widget

Thanks to the generosity of our donors, Federation CJA has been able to launch an inaugural online Community Accessibility Initiative to ensure that Federation CJA and twenty of our impact partners contribute to continuing to support access to members of our community and raise awareness about disability inclusion. The Web Accessibility Widget supports individuals with diverse needs including but not limited to those living with cognitive, neurological, speech, and visual disabilities to access website content. to ensure websites are made more accessible to diverse users and constituents across the Montreal Jewish community. The Widget helps to ensure that community information, resources, and services are easily accessed by a wide range of users with its specialized features such as text enlargement, screen reader, changing the contrast and much more. This interface is often referred to as an Accessibility Sidebar and appears as a small icon (see right), on a bottom corner, or as a pop-up on websites.

List of community impact partners that currently have the widget on their website:

Social Enterprises

Federation CJA supports the following social enterprises - organizations that hire and support neurodivergent individuals and create conditions where employees can grow and thrive within inclusive work environments. These social enterprises promote inclusiveness and diversity in environments that foster belonging and work opportunities for neurodivergent individuals and those living with disabilities.

Zera Café at Federation CJA

Zera Café is a not-for-profit social enterprise catering business that employs neurodiverse young adults. It is a catering business that was founded in March 2020 and as of February 1st, 2021, Zera Café has been fully operational inside The Federation CJA building in Cummings Square.

Click here to order from their website

DeLaMie Pop Up Sales

DeLaMie Bakery is a social enterprise that creates vocational opportunities and empowers young adults with neurodiverse abilities to bake, package and sell baked goods. Federation CJA has co-hosted pop-up sales where DeLaMie sold their delicious baked goods, challah and babka and has been known to sell over 100 items!

Click here to view their website