Newly open in the lobby of Rockville’s Jewish Federation building on Executive Boulevard: a cafe operated by the nonprofit Sunflower Bakery, which teaches baking skills to people with developmental and cognitive disabilities. From 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, you’ll find coffee, bagels and top-notch baked goods from the Sunflower factory in Gaithersburg — all kosher, with many gluten-free options. Cafe Sunflower serves as an extension of the bakery program, teaching its employees real-life job skills like working the cash register, making specialty drinks, interacting with customers, even sales and business management. “We don’t give them a limit on how long they can work here,” says cafe manager Kelsey Pitta. “But ideally, the goal is for them to eventually go out and find other jobs.”
