The Effect of Being in the Center

Two years ago, we set up the first Elai’s Place, a coffee palace & bakery for Elai Regev, a 22-year-old diagnosed with Autism. Educational frameworks for people with special needs end at the age of 21; the future for them is blurred and their development is at great risk, as there are no frameworks fully tailored to the needs needed to empower and realize their potential in adulthood.

From an early age, I noticed Elai`s passion for baking – he was fascinated by this world and was always ready to collaborate as we made a cake and engaged in the kitchen. And so, by the age of ten we found a bakery in the area where he could spend time twice a week after school to absorb and be exposed to the field.

As the time for school came to a close, it became clear to me that a place that would allow him the optimal growth and development in the field of baking, as well as exposure to people and a genuine integration into society, would be a place where he was the center of power and work. That was the reason why we decided to open a coffee place with the clear goal of giving Elai an equal opportunity in adult life – an equal opportunity to be a vital and active contributor in the community.

Seven months after the venture was opened, Elai had made a tremendous leap in all areas – personal, professional and independent. The speech therapist, occupational therapist, and all other therapists were replaced by the café staff, and they are the one that have enabled him to actually integrate into the community. The place has become an inspirational space for business educators and the whole country. Communication and opinion leaders come to the cafe to see and learn more closely how real integration happens, where the person with the special needs is in the center of the business and pushes the entire community around him to adopt new values ​​of mutual responsibilities while inspiring the whole community. A year ago Elai’s Place moved to Sarona Market in the big city in Israel.