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THE 5th TASTE RESTAURANT

 

  

The “Aluma” Center is located at Kibbutz Matzuva. Aluma is an occupational rehabilitation center for people with multiple disabilities owned jointly by the Cochav Hatzafon association and the welfare department of the Mateh Asher Regional Council.
The center addresses occupational rehabilitation needs for members of the framework and respite from a cycle of loneliness, alienation and boredom that was their lot over a long period of time. There are 30 people aged 18+ at the center with emotional and/or physical disabilities. The framework is expected to absorb a further 30 members in the future.
 

The “Aluma” team is made up of the center manager and instructors who are present during the framework activities. There is also a professional chef at the center. Overseeing the activities is a Cochav Hatzafon social worker responsible to the association’s management.
Most of the work at the center is geared towards tourism such as catering for groups of tourists as well as a tourist information center for the population with special needs touring in the Western Galilee region. The Economic Company of the Mateh Regional Council and the Jewish Agency are partners in the project. These two areas of activity are not usually proposed as occupational outlets for the population with special needs but have evolved as a result of the desires of the Aluma members themselves and the opportunities for tourism in the Western Galilee region. This periphery, in this case, has been transformed from a region with few physical resources and opportunities for employment into an advantage. The trend of many people from Israel and abroad is to tour in this beautiful area and enjoy country-fare cuisine. This has been utilized to improve employment opportunities for members of the Cochav Hatzafon Association family.
Aluma members work in the catering outlet “Something Special” under the instruction of the chef. The cuisine is Galilean and in the future they will specialize in different kitchens to fine-tune to the favorite preferences of the general public. Of the groups that have already enjoyed the catering are public dignitaries, employees of business corporations, communication teams as well as individual parties who tour in the enchanting countryside in our region.

 
 

Project Aims
a. To enable persons with special needs to engage in an specialized occupation quite different from the “traditional” occupations offered to them and of their choice and inclinations.
b. To offer a genuine opportunity for persons with special needs to receive a salary for their efforts.
c. To reveal the populations of persons with special needs to the general public and integrate them into a normative population from a position of giving and strength that is often unusual for the image they carry in society and for their own self-esteem.