JDC FEATURES FROM THE FIELD: CRISIS IN GAZA AND
SOUTHERN CONFLICT ZONE
Among its current crisis activities, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) is providing trauma relief for children, vital personal care for the elderly and disabled, emergency situation consulting for municipalities, economic support, and structural fortification to safe havens for citizens living in the conflict zone.
Focus on Ashkelon: JDC Serves as a Pillar of Support As the Gaza war continues, many children are afraid to return to school with the impending threat of Kassam rocket attacks, parents are worried about their families’ safety and livelihood, people with disabilities and the elderly feel insecure in their homes, and businesses are struggling to function. In any of the Israeli cities caught in the fire zone, the impact of the war is palpable for young and old, government official, professional, and volunteer. Building on its recognized expertise, JDC’s activities—both in peacetime and in emergency— address the unique needs of the most vulnerable populations in a given community.
JDC programs in Ashkelon are one example.
Help is just a call away for the elderly and disabled. Under the constant threat of attack, elderly residents of Ashkelon face not only the usual mundane challenges of changing a light bulb or getting to a medical appointment, but the terror of hearing the inevitable Color Red siren alerting them of a nearby rocket or missile. Members of JDC’s Supportive Community in Ashkelon, such as Rivkah, are getting the extra care they need to help them cope. Seventy-nine years old and living alone, Rivkah lacks the luxury of a safe room in her apartment. Therefore, she must run to the stairwell for shelter, which takes her well over the 15 seconds signaled by the emergency alarm. “Once I heard the alarm while I was showering, and just barely managed to reach the stairwell in time.” But knowing she can count on a daily call or visit from her ‘Community Parent’ reassures Rivkah she is cared for, even and especially during these times.
JDC community youth bring support and diversion to children in shelters. Residents living in Ashkelon shelters have the protection that many elderly are too frail to seek in time, but lack the comfort and routine provided by their homes and schools. To return some semblance of normalcy to these people’s lives, JDC’s AMEN (Youth Volunteer Cities) program has deployed some 170 volunteers between the ages of 15 and 17 to run activities for 1,500 children in 32 bomb shelters, distribute emergency kits, and help all vulnerable populations meet their basic nutritional and medical needs. “The youth in Ashkelon are taking care of their city!” one AMEN youth volunteer proudly declared.
Immigrant families are reassured by JDC program staff. Vulnerable immigrant families in Ashkelon face their own unique set of challenges, painfully highlighted during times of emergency. For example, without JDC’s PACT (Parents and Children Together) early childhood development and literacy enhancement program, the city’s Ethiopian-Israeli families who do not have strong language skills would be on their own to understand emergency protocol and get through these troubled times. Too scared to leave their apartment but just as afraid to stay, the Tzefadiah* family has resolved with their PACT liaison to stay close to the apartment stairwell—their only available shelter.
The family shared, “The daily phone calls that we receive from the PACT staff give us our only sense of comfort.” As residents of Ashkelon and the entire southern conflict zone have had to put their lives on hold to brace against a barrage of Kassam rocket attacks, the assurance and effectiveness of JDC programs continue to support and empower residents in the line of fire.
*name has been changed
Developing civil society and the public sector in Israel is one of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee’s (JDC) primary approaches to ensure adequate social services are reaching the country’s most vulnerable citizens. In partnership with the Government of Israel, JDC’s ELKA, Volunteerism, and Philanthropy division cultivates volunteerism as a critical community resource. AMEN (“Youth Volunteer City”), a flagship program of this effort, imbues the importance of volunteerism in Israel’s youngest generation and creates inspiring outlets to engage them in building their home communities. More than 47,000 AMEN youth have contributed nearly 4 million volunteer hours in 45 cities across Israel to date.
JDC Youth Volunteers Unite to Relieve Strain of Life under Daily Missile Fire
When the Second Lebanon War broke out in 2006, youth from JDC’s AMEN program mobilized immediately to support their peers and fellow citizens in the North. They spent days on end preparing care packages, including children’s activity kits and games, to help lighten the burden on families, many of whom spent multiple weeks without leaving bomb shelters. Once missile and rocket fire abated, hundreds of AMEN volunteers were deployed to Haifa, Acco, and other northern cities to help repair shelters, counsel children, and visit the elderly.
While, the geographic area in crisis has changed, the spirit of solidarity and partnership among AMEN cities remains constant. Youth volunteers in central and northern Israel are responding to the plight of their neighbors in the South, initiating several programs to assist these communities under fire.
Recently, the Haifa municipality and local AMEN chapter hosted 80 high school students, including AMEN volunteers from the besieged area of Hof Ashkelon, for a two-day break from the stress of war and endless hours in bomb shelters. Housed in facilities located on Kibbutz Mishmar Ha’Emek, the teens participated in social, educational, and enrichment activities that offered much-needed relief from the daily pressures of living in a crisis zone. But it was the opportunity to volunteer in a local school for special needs children that helped these youth truly express themselves and their gratitude to their Haifa hosts.
“At times like these, when I feel that many Israeli citizens and their cities are mobilizing to provide me and my friends [from the south] with assistance, it is nice to know that I can also give back,” said Ofir Shifman, an 11th grader at Hof Ashkelon high school, of the time he spent helping Haifa children with their studies. “Contributing to others helped me feel that I am not alone and helpless due to the reality of rockets falling on our homes—but rather I am strong and capable, with a sense of confidence,” he added.
For Hili Schwartz, a 12th-grade respite participant, the time in Haifa has helped her understand the needs in other Israeli communities. “I discovered that strong emotion is an integral part of work with special needs children, and we had the opportunity to learn about their educational program,” she said. “What really impacted me was the joy in the children’s eyes during our work together.”
And while achieving its immediate aim of expressing support and camaraderie to communities under fire in the South, the AMEN respite also roused these committed teens to continue volunteering in the future. “This experience has undoubtedly strengthened my desire to contribute to the greater community through participation in a year of service after high school,” said Hili.
But for the present, as Ofir remarked, “being able to ‘do’” has tremendous significance for himself and his peers from the South. The opportunity to be in action on something constructive beyond the immediate threat is a great relief.
January 2009
Formed in 1998, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC)’s Ashalim partnership with the Israeli government and UJA-Federation of New York has developed and piloted over 300 programs for children and youth “at risk”—those aged 0-18 and their families in danger of suffering from abuse, neglect, or a violent home environment, with many likely to drop out of school, become socially alienated, or resort to delinquent behavior. JDC-Ashalim’s pioneering efforts include initiatives to help young adults with special needs participate fully
in Israeli society.
Disabled Young Adults from JDC’s ‘Preparation for Life’ Program Contribute to Sderot Community
When Ofer*, a physically disabled young man joined JDC-Ashalim’s Mechina Lechaim (Preparation for Life) program, he also moved from a relatively “safe” area in Israel to Sderot, a distressed Israeli city that has been bombarded by missile fire over the last eight years. He moved because, unlike his able-bodied counterparts, Ofer, 18, could not enlist in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and benefit from what is a defining experience for most Israelis his age. Mechina Lechaim offers Ofer—and other physically disabled or visually impaired young adults—the opportunity to live away from home in a group environment, contribute to Israeli society, forge a fulfilling career, and navigate the complex transition between high school and adulthood.
“This was a once in a lifetime opportunity for me,” Ofer affirmed. “If I had not been involved in Mechina Lechaim, I might just be staying at home. This program has given me the opportunity to meet others like me, learn to get along with them, volunteer, and to push myself to go beyond my limits.”
Shoshana, a disabled participant from the north, concurred that Mechina Lechaim has been a major force in her life. “I used to be shy and worried about what other people thought. It has been a long road for me, but participating in this program has boosted my self-image and taught me independence.”
Volunteerism is a key component of Mechina Lechaim, during periods of calm and even more so in times of stress. As kassam attacks increased suddenly in Sderot, Ofer undertook to serve as an information clearinghouse to connect local families who wanted to escape the missiles—if only temporarily—with fellow citizens from northern and central Israel who offered to open their homes to them. He also recruited volunteers to fortify “safety rooms” in the homes of local residents.
Since entering Mechina Lechaim in the fall of 2008, the 12 participants in Israel’s southern area have made great strides, even beginning to view their formidable handicaps as surmountable challenges. However, the relentless shelling of recent weeks has undermined this progress, underscored their helplessness, and heightened their fear. The young volunteers are acutely aware that if they were was alone in their apartment, they might not be able to get to the sheltered room in the unforgiving 15-second time limit; outdoors their vulnerability is exponentially greater.
“If I hear a ‘red alert’ siren when I am outside, and need to run suddenly, it’s frightening,”explained Shoshana. “If it’s raining, that’s even worse.”
Last week, Mechina Lechaim program took its young adult participants out of the southern conflict zone to Jerusalem for much needed respite. Part of the itinerary included a visit to the JDC-Israel office in Jerusalem, where they heard encouragement from JDC-Ashalim Director Dr. Rami Sulimani, and had an opportunity to express their feelings and concerns. Despite their fears, many voiced the intense desire to return and resume their volunteer work. Shoshana is concerned about the children that she works with in schools; Ofir, too, wants to continue his contribution to residents of the south. “It hurts that I am not in Sderot right now. I bother our coordinator all the time, asking when we can return,” he said. “If she would allow it, I would go back right away.”
*Names have been changed.
January 2009
For years JDC has been providing consultation services to help municipalities and regional councils manage effectively during emergencies. The direct impact of these consultations is materializing in the government’s ability to effectively address the needs of its citizens currently living under fire in the south. JDC is extending its Emergency Consulting Program to 20 new locations in the expanded conflict zone.
Helping the Helpers: JDC Consult Proves Critical to Unique
Southern Region in Crisis
Sha’ar HaNegev, located in Israel’s South, began receiving consultation from JDC-ELKA months ago in an effort to improve its preparedness for emergency and its ability to respond effectively amidst the Kassam attacks. Unlike Sderot, Netivot, and other larger cities in the southern conflict zone, Sha’ar HaNegev is a rural regional council (similar to a municipality but rural rather than urban) made up of 11 smaller, dispersed communities. The size and distance between these communities has made it particularly challenging to ensure the security of Sha’ar HaNegev’s residents and coordinate an emergency response.
With the guidance of JDC’s ELKA division in Israel—The Association for the Development and Advancement of Manpower in the Social Services—the regional council started for the first time to address a wide range of emergency issues it was facing:
- the need for better shelters and to reinforce public buildings against the rockets;
- a plan for organization and coordination of emergency response;
- how to work with the various staffs in each of the individual communities; and
- how to resolve the various social needs that are created by the emergency.
The head of the Council shared how JDC’s consultation has improved the local government’s ability to respond in a crisis: “Today when ministers and other leaders come to visit our region, we are able to say to them that we are prepared for emergency. Now our central challenges are no longer around getting ourselves better organized or better prepared for emergency, but rather facing the daily challenges that come with the attacks.”
Last week, right after a missile fell in Kibbutz Mefalsim—home to 180 families—a 94-year-old resident of the kibbutz who has been living in a bomb shelter for his protection asked to speak to the head of the Sha’ar Hanegev Regional Council. “I want you to know,” he said, “that times like this bring out the best of Israel and the Jewish People—volunteerism, togetherness, and unity.” Moved deeply by the man’s comments, the Regional Council head understood how the newly improved organization and preparedness, enabled by JDC’s consultation, contributed directly to the well-being of the citizens in his charge during these difficult times.
January 2009
JDC's Centers for Young Adults: Proactive under Rocket Fire
JDC established a network of Centers for Young Adults to help Israelis aged 18-30 fulfill their potential by successfully navigating the transitions and seizing opportunities within Israeli society, such as those from high school into the army or from the army into higher education or the workforce. Support during these times is especially critical for young immigrants, whose parents may not be equipped to guide their teenagers through these unique rites of passage because they themselves did not come of age in Israel, but rather in their native country. As a central address for matters ranging from employment and education to leadership and activism, these Centers allow young Israelis to successfully confront the challenges of early adulthood while giving back to their often disadvantaged and peripheral communities.
The positive impact of these efforts on Israeli society is nowhere more clearly evident today than in the southern conflict zone, where young adults affiliated with Centers are playing an active role in helping residents during the current attacks.
Yossi, a 27-year-old software engineering student and active Center participant ‘by day,’ was one of the many young adults recruited to help in Ashdod via a text message from Center staff at the start of the crisis.
Last week, Yossi spent over eight hours a day engaging children in activities in one of Ashdod's poorest neighborhoods. These children often come from large, impoverished families. With school closed, were it not for young adults like Yossi running programs in the local bomb shelter, these children would be on the streets—both in immediate physical danger and at risk of longer-term emotional peril as well.
At the end of the day, the children pull on Yossi’s sleeves and beg him to stay for “just” a few more minutes, and make him promise to come the next day. Center staff report how children immediately connect to Yossi: he radiates warmth and is able to motivate them to participate in activities while also allaying many of their fears.
An Ashdod native himself, this young adult sees his work in this neighborhood as a mission. Yossi is now the team leader of the volunteers working in four underprivileged neighborhoods. "I believe that at this time everyone must do their best to help,” he said.
Ceter participants are not the only ones being mobilized. In Be’er Sheva, where the Center’s regular activities are on standby, staff have redefined their responsibilities. For example, Rostik, the New Immigrants Coordinator, joined the municipality's efforts to check the condition of the city's shelters and report problems accordingly.
Michal, the Center’s social worker, offered assistance in a more personal way. She was told that a small group of senior citizens, who live in her neighborhood, had not ventured out of their shelter for more than three days. Although most residents only enter shelters when they hear the sirens, these seniors felt that they lived too far away to reach safety in time, so opted to remain in the shelter indefinitely, even through days when no siren was sounded.
On entering the shelter, Michal found these 'permanent' residents in a state of severe anxiety. A number of them had previously experienced traumas from terrorist attacks, which they were reliving. As a young professional more accustomed to working with immigrant young adults, 27-year-old Michal found herself recalling her trauma training from university in order to give them therapeutic “first aid.” Additionally, she followed up by contacting the Be’er Sheva municipality to ensure that these residents would receive ongoing assistance.
Efforts by Centers in Ashdod and Be’er Sheva are being mirrored in other cities in the region, including Kiryat Gat, Netivot, and Sderot. Whether it be clearing out unused bomb shelters, providing support for children with disabilities in their homes, calming residents of geriatric hospitals, or staffing municipal emergency and security telephone hotlines, these young adults are helping the most vulnerable residents and providing hope and inspiration for so many people during this difficult time.
January 2009
JDC Staff Help Ethiopian-Israeli Families Cope During Escalated Attacks
It had never occurred to Batsheva Tamano, director of JDC’s Atzmaut program in Sderot, that her work helping Ethiopian-Israeli families gain self-sufficiency would one day help her own family.
It became clear a few days ago, when, on her way out the door of her Be’er Sheva home to work, a siren went off signaling a grad missile attack, forcing Batsheva to detour to her family’s shelter. Waiting for the attack to end, she found herself using breathing techniques from trauma relief workshops she had herself arranged for Atzmaut participants, for whom life with these types of attacks is routine.
Now Batsheva is experiencing firsthand the trauma to the families whom she serves.
“Last night, as we were descending into the shelter, my son asked me a barrage of questions, ‘Why can’t I go to kindergarten? Are they going to kill us? Why do we need to go the shelter? Is our house weak? Will the shelter stop us from dying?’ shared Batsheva. “It broke my heart. I just tried to explain calmly that the shelter was more protected.”
But these trying times have only reinforced Batsheva’s commitment to empowering her Ethiopian-Israeli community. “It’s not easy when you are worrying about your family, but it gives me strength to know that I have to help those who need it more than I do,” she said.
Batsheva was particularly eager to get to work that morning: In addition to doing the regular check-in with program participants, most of whom had spent the last five days in the crowded local public shelter, she was seeing off 20 Ethiopian-Israeli families (54 people) for a respite trip to Eilat, arranged by the municipality. Atzmaut, which has been operating in Sderot for four years thanks to Israel Emergency Campaign funds from the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco and is seen by the municipality as a central address for coordinating the needs of the city’s Ethiopian-Israeli community, had contacted Batsheva the day before to organize a list of suitable families to participate in the excursion.
Preparing families for respites is just one of the support services that Batsheva and her staff have been providing to Ethiopian-Israeli families in Sderot since the attacks escalated. They have been working on rotation to look after children so that parents can go to work; arranging activities in shelters; connecting them to opportunities to leave the city for safe excursions; and working diligently to find an Amharic-speaking psychologist to help the adults in the community (children are receiving psychological support through the local trauma center).
“The rather chaotic atmosphere in the public shelters can be difficult for some of the adults to deal with,” Batsheva explained. “Although it’s safer for them to be there, some of the elders need quiet to deal with their worries so they just get up and leave even though they are not protected in their houses,” she added.
The following encounter from Batsheva on the morning described illustrates a common scenario in working with Ethiopian-Israeli communities living under fire:
“Before I went to the office that morning I visited the neighborhood’s public shelter. It was quite empty as most of the children and their parents had gone on a day trip to Jerusalem. A couple of women were still lying down. They were alone with a few young children.
I asked them where their husbands were. One said that her husband had gone to work but the other explained, with tension in her voice, that her husband David had dropped her and her children off and had gone home alone. She shared that she was worried about him as their home wasn’t protected.
As their home was on the way to my office I went into see David, a man in his 40s. I found him just sitting around. He had clearly returned home so he could deal with the situation in his own way. When I asked him what he was doing there since his family was in the shelter, he responded ‘I’m fine, what could happen’?
I couldn’t leave it like that. I said, ‘Don’t you realize you’re a role model for your family? Your home isn’t protected. Why aren’t you with them? What would you say if your children wanted to join you? If you are scared, share that with them, so they know its ok to be afraid, but you’re in this together’.
He smiled weakly at me. It was clear that he understood me but wasn’t ready to talk. We arranged to speak later…”
Batsheva’s work with people like David and his family is critical during crises such as this. Vulnerable in the best of times, Ethiopian-Israelis and other immigrants living in and around the conflict zone need the extra support JDC provides to cope during emergencies.
January 2009
JDC Brings Essential and Life-Affirming Care to Elderly and
People with Disabilities
Innes and Levirana, Sderot residents, are both victims of recent rocket attacks. Yet, as their homes were not directly hit, it is unlikely that their stories will be told on the news. The trauma and pain that they experience could go unnoticed and untreated by the outside world.
Fortunately for these women, they are not invisible to JDC: they know that there is someone there who cares for them at all times. Innes and Levirana are members of two JDC programs in Sderot: the Supportive Community for the Disabled, and Supportive Community for the Elderly, respectively.
Innes, a fifty-something veteran Sderot resident, is physically disabled. She can only move around with the aid of a walker. Innes was wounded recently during a Kassam attack. Her home was not hit, but when the “Code Red” alert sounded, she darted for safety and fell. Subsequently hospitalized, Innes returned home a day later to the same apartment but with injuries and an extra layer of fear and concern for her personal security.
Levirana, 83, an immigrant from Ukraine and a Holocaust survivor, has lived in Sderot for 12 years. She has no family in Israel. When a Kassam recently fell in an open space adjacent to the public housing project where she lives, her home was damaged: windows were shattered, shutters were torn apart, and her air conditioning unit was wrecked, expelling liquids and fumes. The exterior apartment wall was packed full of holes, and the external gas supply, pierced multiple times with shrapnel, had to be turned off immediately.
JDC originally designed the Supportive Community Program model to promote independent living among Israeli seniors, allowing them to age in place. In the past eight years, the model has been developed and adapted in two additional directions—to assist people with disabilities, and to offer upgraded emergency help to both populations during times of conflict. A comprehensive basket of services is provided to the elderly and the disabled. Central to the success of both programs is the ‘community parent,’ who acts as a case manager, constantly reaching out to members, checking their well-being, and ensuring that their needs are taken care of.
In Innes’s case, community parent Yaakov Shwartz was there to ensure that she was accompanied to the hospital and had what she needed upon her return home, such as food and help with daily chores. Yaakov was well prepared to help Innes, since checking in with his Supportive Community members after attacks is part of his daily routine.
For Levirana, it was Alah—community parent and fellow immigrant—who calmed and reassured this elderly woman, who sat paralyzed and crying uncontrollably. Then she arranged for local volunteers to come clear Levirana’s apartment, including cleaning up glass splinters and taping plastic across the bare window frames. Together with other JDC staff, Alah also coordinated the various agencies that needed to come in to evaluate the damage and helped ensure that the gas company quickly restored supply so Levirana could cook on her gas stove.
Yaakov, Alah, and other JDC Supportive Community staff in Sderot and across the country report that in 95% of cases, members share the difference the personal call or visit makes to their lives and that it gives them the strength to carry on.
With this knowledge, the Government of Israel, together with JDC, has initiated “120 Strong,” a program to offer immediate outreach and response to the elderly and the disabled in the conflict zone. Planned for three months or longer, 180 trained case managers will be mobilized to be responsible for cohorts of 120 people in the 25-mile radius of the crisis.
These case managers will responsible for addressing the individual needs of elderly and disabled residents in their charge. They will offer the essential personal care and attention that JDC’s Supportive Community experience has shown to be so life-affirming.
January 2009
JDC Volunteers Provide a Welcome Diversion for Sderot Children During Crisis
Many ongoing JDC programs, both during peacetime and in an emergency, incorporate volunteer components that empower target populations. Today, in the southern conflict zone, many such volunteers are being mobilized to provide needed assistance to local residents.
In response to a week of heavy attacks, student volunteers from JDC’s Mishol program—which promotes community solidarity in distressed areas—have opened an activity club to serve children in three Sderot neighborhoods.
The club aims to ensure that children are safe and constructively occupied during the crisis. The student volunteers sometimes spend the night in the shelters with the youngsters, under the guise of a “pajama party."
Creative crafts and circle games like musical chairs keep children busy—but it’s not all fun and games for this crew of young adults, who need to ensure that everyone gets along in a confined space, for as many as 12 hours a day, in a time of intense fear.
Zohar and Tehilla, two volunteers from this JDC program, offer a glimpse into the experiences of their young charges:
“We were amazed to see how the children— though obviously frightened—function during this time of crisis. They can distinguish between the noise of kassam rockets and the din of explosions in Gaza, and can even identify Israel Defense Force (IDF) planes based on their sound.
It is clear that this wartime experience is having an indelible impact on them. Today, we saw children play war games with paper airplanes, or pretend a red alert has sounded, even when all is quiet.
We are convinced that opening the shelter-based club was important; the children were here almost non-stop from 9:00 am till 7:00 pm. The parents were grateful that the children were able to get out of the house. This reprieve enabled them to do errands or simply relax knowing that the children were safe.”
January 2009
JDC’s Mishol Program Cares for Residents of Kasdor Sderot
Since the conflict in Gaza intensified, seventy-five-year-old widow Polina has simply not moved from her apartment in Sderot's Kasdor neighborhood.
Polina relies on a walker to get around due to a loss of sensation in one leg. Her reduced mobility prevents her from moving to safety when the blaring Red Color attack alerts sounds. Her top floor apartment lacks a protected room and the building's shelter is on the first floor, an impossible distance to cover in the allocated 15 seconds to get to safety
With no family nearby, Polina relies on a neighbor for help with odd jobs and errands. Now at the same time as she faces her fears of attack -- her neighborhood was hit with rocket fire in recent days although no homes were directly hit -- she has the additional worry about assistance in the future; her neighbor just informed her that she plans to sell her car. Polina might have been left to contemplate her predicament alone were it not for a recent visit by Ruby, local coordinator for JDC's Mishol program.
Mishol (literally meaning path) uses the improvement of living environments to promote community solidarity among immigrants and impoverished veteran Israelis alike. Local coordinators like Ruby play a pivotal role in guiding residents of Israel's most run-down peripheral neighborhoods to organize themselves and using existing resources to improve their living conditions and ultimately their future prospects.
Since the outbreak of increased violence, Mishol in the Kasdor neighborhood has morphed into emergency mode focusing its efforts on needs created by the intensified violence. As part of these efforts Ruby makes home visits to connect with residents; provide information about available services; listening to residents' needs and worries; checking electricity and water supplies as well as dealing with other issues as they arise.
On hearing about Polina's plight, Ruby quickly started thinking of ways to help. She contacted the Municipal Welfare Department's Unit for the Elderly to arrange assistance for Polina while also committing that Mishol staff continue to visit her daily.
Polina is just one of many residents who are being helped by Mishol. The local Mishol clubhouse is open 12 hours a day staffed by team members backed by reinforcements from the municipal welfare department.
In addition to evaluating needs of residents through home visits, Mishol staff are also ensuring that shelters are usable by checking the electricity and water connections; clearing out residents' belongings to make space available; and buying games for children to play with when they are confined to shelters. Volunteers recruited through the program are planning social activities for the children and other residents as a way to create the feeling of a safe and warm environment.
Thanks to Mishol - even as rockets continue to fall, Polina and others like her can regain some sense of calm and security.
December 2008
Amidst Falling Rockets Israelis with Disabilities Celebrate Hanukkah Together in SouthernIsrael
 |
Immanuel, Chairman of the Volunteer Activities of the Accessible Community uses a wheelchair, but stands to make
the blessing of the Hanukkah lights.
|
"I am very excited today following last night's Hanukkah celebration that included 60 members from JDC's Supportive Community for the Disabled and the Accessible Community Programs in Sderot, said Nitza Dinor, a program coordinator on behalf of the Unit for Disabilities in cooperation with Gvanim Association and the Social Welfare Division of the Sderot Municipality. Nitza is all too familiar with events being cancelled and rooms left empty because members of the local Supportive Community were too afraid to leave their homes due to a surge of Kassam rockets.
Nitza further expressed in a message to JDC-Israel, "I believe that our members are grasping for life and happiness, which they know they can find in togetherness. All of us understand that this is what keeps us strong in this situation.”
JDC's Supportive Community for the Disabled and the Accessible Community Programs in Sderot provide personal and social support for people with disabilities and their families living in Sderot. The programs were established with funds from UJC/Federation Israel Emergency Campaign and from the Northern New Jersey Jewish Federation. Currently 100 people with disabilities participate in these activities and the aim is to increase the scope to all 500 people living with severe disabilities in Sderot.
These programs were created with a strong emphasis on emergency preparedness including: emergency contact lists, the recruiting and training of volunteers for home visits, preparations for respite or evacuations if needed, workshops for stress reduction and distribution of equipment specially designed for people with disabilities such as lighting and communication devices.
In addition, JDC completed upgrades on two public buildings—a social club and an employment center—in Sderot to ensure their safety from Kassam rockets. These facilities serve 150 community members with disabilities who attend these activities every day in spite of the attacks knowing that the facilities have the highest standards of protection, as approved by Israel’s Homefront Command. JDC-ESHEL, the Association for the Planning and Development of Services for the Aged in Israel also consulted on this to ensure the buildings were fully accessible for elderly people living with disabilities.
JDC is committed to providing support and relief to members of the vulnerable populations—children, elderly, and people with disabilities—living in Sderot, the Gaza Border Region, and the Southern Conflict Zone. JDC works to secure the safety and well-being of these community members and works to create a positive and productive community environment. As Nitza remarked, “It is important not to give up on our events and to attend social evenings and celebrate holidays together. This togetherness creates a very powerful resilience as we felt at the Hanukkah celebration.”
JDC programs that support the communities in the Southern Conflict Zone are funded by the UJC/Federation Israel Emergency Campaign and are run in full cooperation with UJC, JAFI, and the government of Israel.
December 2008