Making the Connection: JDC's Ambassadors Symposium

Making the Connection was the theme of the JDC Ambassadors Symposium, May 6-7, focusing on how we can make a genuine and meaningful connection between us as caregivers and philanthropists and the people in need around the world that we help. 

The ideal connection would look very different from the top-down approach that too often has served to increase the divide among people. It would be about achieving true empathy, about empowering the people we help so that they are the best allies in helping themselves, and about stretching how we do philanthropy and engage others.

Monday's session looked at how we care for our friends as a model for how we do good in the world.

Park Avenue Synagogue’s Rabbi Cosgrove spoke about empathy and the Hebrew concept of arevut, the responsibility we have towards one another (click here). Letty Cottin Pogrebin spoke about her personal experience fighting breast cancer and the type of care that she sought from friends and family, and articulated principles that resonated with her experience and others' with whom she spoke. Foremost among them was the importance of listening to the voices and wishes of the people we want to help and not assuming that we know best.         

What might this principle look like if we put it into play in our humanitarian work as well as our personal lives?

There are few programs that better demonstrate JDC's vision of listening to and empowering the people we serve than Jay Ruderman’s groundbreaking work with disabled people in Israel -- a partnership among his family foundation, JDC and the Government of Israel that goes by the name Israel Unlimited.  A staggering 1 million people suffer from disabilities in Israel (key stats here), but the program does not focus on accessibility alone. Instead, it makes disabled people the actors in their own story -- helping them to challenge stigmatization (here's an excellent piece on an inspiring blind Arab Israeli woman) and build up their confidence and abilities to act as positive forces in their communities through volunteerism and a new emphasis on work.

 

Campers with Disabilities Rejoice at Szarvas

“I return to Szarvas every year to see my
friends and feel something I cannot feel
anywhere else—happy,” says Henrik Z., 32,
who has Down’s syndrome.
Sourse: JDC Website

All year long Henrik Z., 32, who has Down’s syndrome and lives with his pensioner mother inBudapest, Hungary, looks forward to the most special week of his summer. That’s when he goes to camp Szarvas, where he sees his friends, plays soccer, and celebrates Shabbat with the community he feels closest to.

“I return to Szarvas every year to see my friends and feel something I cannot feel anywhere else—happy,” he says.

Home taught by his father for much of his life, Henrik started to attend a special school for the first time when his dad died about 10 years ago. As he began to socialize with his peers, his teacher recommended that he attend a summer program to maintain his social development and interaction throughout the year. That’s when he learned about the one-week summer program for people with disabilities at the Ronald S. Lauder Foundation/JDC International Summer Camp in Szarvas, Hungary.

JDC Israel Focuses on Empowerment

By Rebecca Neuwirth, Director, JDC Ambassadors

A huge moon is hanging over my shoulder in Tel Aviv, a city I haven't been to since I became a mother over seven years ago and put a brake on long travel.

A lot has changed in that time, but not the tender breeze, the slightly sweet smell of blossoming summer in a dusty city. The smell of cats too - in every small street I sense them - on steps and mailboxes and sliding between parked cars. The simple cafes, the handsome people, the certain knowledge that the ocean is just hidden beyond these small streets, win me over again.

I'm here with 70 people for the JDC Board mission. We are visiting projects that address serious social issues in Israel. I'm excited to see that JDC is hitting all the right notes.

Letter to friends: visiting Israel with JDC

Judah Kraushaar, member of the JDC Ambassadors Steering Committee, joined JDC's Board for a mission in Israel in early June 2012. Below are reflections that he shared with a group of his friends about the work and impact of JDC in Israel.

Friends,

I recently had the good fortune to travel with the board of The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) examining in depth its work in Israel. As you may know, the JDC has become one of my passions, and I hope you’ll allow me to share a small part of what I saw and learned from this incredibly stimulating experience. I’ve been to Israel many times typically as a tourist or in the context of my interest in political advocacy; but this trip allowed me to see a very different side of the country—it focused on the challenges posed by the soft underbelly of society, a world where the poor, disenfranchised, and even migrant populations struggle daily. In many countries, such a focus would have been totally depressing; but, as you might have guessed, the commitment in Israeli society to address social problems, combined with Israeli innovation and passion—and helped along by the JDC’s work—made this visit to Israel one of my most uplifting ever.

JDC Israel - People with Disabilities and Sustainable Environment

A great video from JDC Israel about the opportunities for people with disabilities in Israel in the environmental field.

Disabilities Inclusion Champion Pioneers Groundbreaking Israel Initiative

Jay Ruderman visits the Zusman Center for 

Independent Living in Jerusalem, a program of 

Israel Unlimited in which the Ruderman Family 

Foundation is a founding partner.

Jay Ruderman is a longtime advocate for the inclusion of people with disabilities in his native Boston and his current home, the State of Israel. Through his leadership of the Ruderman Family Foundation, he promotes the rights of people with disabilities in the Jewish community and works to strengthen the relationship between Israeli leaders and American Jews.

The Ruderman Family Foundation partnered with JDC and the Israeli Government in 2009 to create Israel Unlimited—a national initiative to meet the needs of Israel's 700,000 adults with disabilities (17.9% of the population) and improve their ability to live independently and integrate into Israeli society.

More than halfway into the program, Jay discusses its successes, challenges, and his steadfast vision for the future.

JDC: Israel Unlimited runs extensive community services for people with physical, sensory, emotional, and cognitive disabilities, as well as individuals with chronic health problems that cause functional impairment. What initially inspired your activism for people with disabilities?

JR: Originally the Ruderman Foundation made a commitment to Jewish day school education in Boston, but very quickly we realized that children with special needs did not share in the opportunity. We became concerned with this was an issue of fairness: Why should some children have the advantage of a Jewish education but others—sometimes in the same family—be denied it?

Ironically, after a few years of working on the issue, it became that much more personal to me when one of my nephews was diagnosed with autism.

JDC: Given your prominent work on inclusion issues in the US, how did you get involved in the work in Israel?

JR: We wanted to go from impacting a major Jewish community in the United States to being able to effect change on a national level in Israel.

We partnered with the Joint [JDC], which is an extremely professional organization and committed to making sure funders get the most impact for their philanthropic dollars. We were lucky to have the opportunity to found an initiative as partners and take the lead on the inclusion issue in Israel.

JDC: How did the innovative Israel Unlimited partnership emerge and who was involved? What do you see as JDC's role in the program?

JR: Our Foundation approached this initiative as an investment for which we provided participation as an entrepreneurial partner. JDC offered the expertise and research on the needs in Israel, and also brought in the government to bring the program's innovation and inclusivity to a new level. The Joint's expertise was required to make the partnership with the Israeli government work.

Israel Unlimited marks the first time that a private foundation has sat at a table with the Joint and the Israeli government in the field of disabilities.

Our Foundation is very entrepreneurial in the way we approach raising awareness and changing public attitudes, which we see as integral to the program being really successful. Our investment was matched and will most likely be expanded from an initial four-year financial commitment to a program continuously operated by the government that grows and evolves to meet the needs of the community.

Today the Board of Israel Unlimited includes a wide variety of stakeholders, including the Treasury Department, which ensures that the model programs are integrated within governmental policy and sustained by the government when the developmental stage is over.

JDC: As an advocate you've frequently said, "Government needs to give a little [to people with disabilities] to get a lot." What do you see as the government's role in ensuring inclusion of people with disabilities?

JR: Society tends to see first the disability and then the person. And though society wants to provide special services for people with disabilities, they are very costly. Government needs to step in and find the funds because equal opportunity is what we should be about as a people.

People with disabilities have to deal with discrimination as well as a financial impact. It is up to us to be a better society and include them in all aspects of life, including education, employment, and health care.

JDC: How have you seen the program grow and develop since its start?

JR: We are at the half-way point now and Israel Unlimited has taken on a variety of innovative projects, from Supportive Communities that give people the care they need to live independently in their own homes to special accessible Ulpans (Hebrew language learning programs for new immigrants) that allow people to really engage in Israeli society.

We have learned from different ministries that the Israeli government approaches groups of people by the type of disability that they have, which often leaves wide gaps for people with multiple disabilities or those whose issues are not well defined.

We've been able to see a better picture of what the needs are, and what the opportunities could be. Whatever isn't yet being addressed by the government is a space for something new and innovative.

Investing in the Joint is investing in knowledge, history, and an institution with the power to work with Israel's government to make society better. Our Foundation believes strongly in the relationship we have developed with the Joint. That's why we made the investment. Now other funders are showing interest in this area, and it is very exciting to imagine how the initiative can grow.

Many of the benefits probably won't be known until well into the future but the potential is tremendous.

JDC: Israel Unlimited works to integrate and enable people with disabilities to live rich, fulfilled, and independent lives. What success story has particularly stuck with you?

JR: Through the Centers for Independent Living, the confidence and the self-esteem that people gain from being linked into a network, a job market, a social scene, is transformational. People who were previously prisoners in their homes come out into the world!

I remember being in a neighborhood in the south of Israel where I was going to pay a visit to a homebound person in a walk-up. We saw some kids playing in the street and asked them if they knew the person and they said, "no." When neighbors don't even know you're there, when there's no one to bring you medicine or help you fix a broken faucet—let alone offer you human contact or friendship—that's when you are truly invisible.

But people with disabilities make up 18% of Israeli society. They should be included…and we're seeing tremendous progress in that direction.

JDC: When you speak generally about the trend of people with disabilities and employment, you reference the 'win-win-win' between employers, people with disabilities, and the government: "Many employers have seen their relatively small investment repaid in spades, with loyal and dependable workers who in many cases outpace those employees without disabilities. It is truly a win-win-win: Employers get good workers, individuals achieve independence and a new measure of confidence, and the government, over time, sees more tax revenue and less dependence on disability benefits." What such example have you seen in the field?

JR: In our work in Boston, we were initially focused on young kids but with time we began to think about what was happening to them after they graduated. Young people with disabilities in their 20s often must confront loneliness and limited or no job opportunities. So we partnered with our local Federation (CJP - Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston), Jewish Vocational Services, and Hebrew Senior Life (a provider of senior housing and services), and decided we would take a new approach.

Rather than providing general skills training, we asked our employment partner, Hebrew Senior Life, what skills they needed in new workers. We then began training 20-somethings with disabilities in those specific skills so that we could place them in viable employment there. The program has just begun, but we expect that there will be many new jobs created for people with disabilities, and perhaps almost as important, interactions between the elderly and the employees that will be mutually gratifying.

JDC: Back in Israel, Israel Unlimited is already helping thousands of people with disabilities and their families live independently in their homes, become activists for accessibility and community involvement, provide support services for their disabled peers, and much more. What are your goals for the partnership's remaining year and a half?

JR: I see the initiative as a work in progress. The pilot projects have spread throughout the country and we can look at different levels of success: how much government money comes in, what other funders come in, and what new avenues for partnership have emerged. I focus on the funding community because that's what I know and because other funders can help expand the impact.

Our efforts are entrepreneurial, which makes philanthropy exciting. We are investing and we are privileged to be involved in changing our society for the better.

JDC: ADVANCE 2011: The Ruderman Jewish Special Needs Conference just took place and you've expressed great excitement about being "the incubator for ideas that will lead to better and more effective services." Who was the conference for and what kind of exchanges did it facilitate?

JR: ADVANCE brought together funders, experts from the field of disability, and community leaders to share information and learn from each other, and transform the way communities serve the needs of adults and children with disabilities.

We are facing an overwhelming challenge with this issue, in terms of cost, complexity, etc. We will have no real impact if we operate individually. ADVANCE brought together major funders and partners, including CJP, the Joint, JFN, and JFNA, because we all need to work together to have a greater social impact.

Family Retreats Offer a Helping Hand to Special Needs Kids and Their Parents

Integration camps for families with children with
special needs provide tailored services and care
and offer a welcoming community and entry point into
Jewish life.
Photo: JDC Website

For Vladimir and Irina, everyday parenting is a struggle. Both of their young children suffer from debilitating illnesses: Nikita, 8, has cerebral paralysis; his legs do not work, so he can’t move without his parents’ help and his speech is also severely impaired. Ellina is five, and soon after she was born her parents learned that she had encephalopathy (brain disease/disorder) and would require ongoing medical attention throughout her life.

The difficulty of meeting their children’s special needs is confounded by the pressures of making ends meet on the family’s meager $200 monthly income. The children require regular doctors’ visits, treatments, medications, and nutritious food—but the household utilities alone cost over $100 per month.

Strained, isolated, and overwhelmed, Vladimir and Irina have no public resources to turn to for help—which is why JDC’s assistance is so critical. They receive food and medicines, diapers, clothes, and household supplies to help them meet their basic needs. They rely on special packages of food and Jewish items in order to celebrate the holidays. But the family has found its greatest assistance in the community and support that embraced them at this year’s JDC Family Integration Camp just outside their hometown of Kishinev, Moldova.

“Other families with kids with special needs can understand the hardships, pain, and fears that go along with raising children with disabilities and help us feel less alone,” Irina says.

JDC supports family camping programs throughout Moldova, Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia. Over 5500 people will participate in intergenerational camps, Shabbatons, and retreats throughout the region this year. Integrated family camps are unique as they are staffed by specially trained madrichim as well as psychologists, medical doctors, and specialists for children with special needs. They provide an environment where parents and children alike can receive tailored assistance and take part in sensitive programming designed to make the most of their children’s abilities and talents.

Families take part in Jewish activities (like decorating hamsas, kippot, and Shabbat candles), and everyone comes together as one big family to celebrate Shabbat and then to sing Havdalah songs as Shabbat draws to a close. For many, these programs offer the only chance to connect with other families in the disability community and to find an entry point into Jewish life.

This is just what happened to the Shoob family: Eugene, 50, is a single father to Lubov, his ten-year-old daughter who suffers from cerebral spastic infantile paralysis. They didn’t think other families would understand their trying circumstances so they’d never taken part in community activities until last year, when when they participated in the family camp in Minsk, Belarus.

“The days we spent at the Jewish family retreat were unforgettable,” Eugene reflects. “Initially, I went for the sake of my daughter but I learned so much myself. Lubov found new friends at camp and came back proud to be part of the Jewish people. I’d thought it was hardly possible to find like-minded people at my age but found out just how wrong I was.”

Today Eugene and Lubov take part in their local family club and the Mishpacha (Family) theatre program, and attend all of the community’s holidays, concerts, festivals, and activities. They’ve started going to synagogue and Lubov now attends the JDC-supported Minsk Jewish Community Center programs where she plays, dances, and has made many friends. Eugene is very grateful for his newfound community and cannot wait to for this year’s retreat.

“I have always known my family is Jewish,” he said. “But now I know what that means and what a joy it can be.”

Bringing Holiday Sweetness to a Special Needs Boy in Zaporozhye



“I am really touched and surprised that in such hard times
there are people who are still ready to help,” says Vadim’s
mother, Nataliya, who relies on JDC’s monthly food
allowance to feed her family.

Five-year-old Vadim received a delicious surprise this Rosh Hashanah. His family, who normally subsists on whatever staples they can cover using their monthly JDC food allowance, got a special holiday package last month that included challah, honey, pomegranate juice, and sweets—likely the only ones Vadim will taste all year.

Single-mom Nataliya, 31, supports Vadim and his two-year-old brother Matvey on approximately $200 a month, which in Zaporozhye, Ukraine is barely enough to keep a roof over their heads. The family shares a room in an apartment that has no working bathroom or kitchen. Nataliya’s older brother and his family live in the main room, and her younger brother sleeps where the kitchen used to be.

As much as Nataliya would like to improve the family’s situation, every effort she makes is hampered by Vadim, who was born with congenital cerebral palsy. He is unable to walk or function independently, and fully relies on Nataliya, just like his toddler brother. Desperate for help, Nataliya turns to the Jewish community and depends on JDC—the only source of support in a country with few social safety nets for even its most helpless people.

Since Nataliya only gets occasional work as a sales clerk, the family mostly survives on what they receive from the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ)-JDC Partnership for Children in the Former Soviet Union through the local Jewish Family Services (JFS). Vadim is one of the 30,000 children whose families depend on critical assistance such as a monthly food package, medication, clothing, and toys that the boys share.

At the same time, JDC provides special care for Vadim’s physical needs, supplying him with rehabilitation equipment to strengthen his limbs through the Tikva program for children with disabilities, supported by World Jewish Relief.

But Vadim’s cerebral palsy requires more targeted intervention to improve his mobility. Nataliya has been trying hopelessly to save up enough money to get him special massage treatment. Much to her surprise, the JFS, Tikva professionals, and some local volunteers organized an ongoing fundraiser to accompany each big event at their Jewish Community Center in order to raise money for Vadim’s massage course. When Natalia heard about the success of the first fundraiser, she was overjoyed.

“I am really touched and surprised that in such hard times there are people who are still ready to help.”

A Community of Support: All in the Family

Families of children with special needs have little support or community: the majority of available services focus on the child. There’s little help for other family members who face social isolation and constant deferral of their own needs. JDC's All in the Family Program strengthens families by offering guidance, community and leadership skills.

Lena, an Arab-Israeli woman from Acco, is a mother to five children. Her eldest child, 18-year old Raya, is mentally retarded, with ongoing medical needs that require frequent hospitalizations. Until recently, Raya was a source of shame to her family. Lena describes the difficulty she had in holding her head high in Arab society. Moreover, she did not know how to access information regarding social benefits and services that could help Raya. Distressed by the lack of support from her husband in helping with child care, Lena was on the verge of divorce.

"All in the Family" turned Lena's family around. Lena describes the support and empowerment that she’s received just in the last half year as "a warm home that took us in." In a mothers’ group, she learns from the experience and tips shared by other Arab and Jewish mothers coping with special needs children. It helps her to be more accepting and supportive of Raya.

Lena sees that her other children are following her example, improving the entire family dynamic. For example, one of Raya's sisters stood up in front of her class and spoke about Raya, her disabilities and the importance of accepting her and her special needs. Another younger sister comes with Lena and Raya to attend weekly "family playroom" activities, a positive shared experience that has enhanced the relationship between the sisters. "Family fun days" have fostered enjoyable experiences for the entire family.

All in the Family is designed to be a "home" for families of physically, developmentally, and mentally challenged children and youth (from birth to 21), offering them knowledge, positive experiences and a supportive peer community. The program serves 150 Jewish and Arab-Israeli families in and around the city of Akko, with plans to expand to three additional locations.

Israel Unlimited: Empowering People with Disabilities

Israel Unlimited was founded by JDC, the Ruderman Family Foundation, and the Government of Israel in the fall of 2009 to meet the needs of Israel’s 700,000 adults with disabilities (aged 20-64) and to advance independent living and integration of Israelis with disabilities into general Israeli Society. The focus is on adults who are at high risk - parents, women, immigrants, Arabs, the newly disabled and adults with multiple disabilities.

The video below showcases one program developed by Israel Unlimited called 'Mother to Another', a peer mentorship program for mothers with disabilities that focuses on their specific needs.

Promoting the Rights of the Disabled in Israel

The Jerusalem Post published an article about JDC's newly established national council to promote the rights of people with disabilities in the work force in Israel.  Written by Ruth Eglash, the article states that "the National Council for the Rights of People with Disabilities in the Workplace will develop countrywide programs to improve job opportunities for people with disabilities, as well as advancing the rights of the disabled in the workplace."

Photo by: Ariel Jerozolimski/The Jerusalem Post

Read the article at JDC establishes council for labor rights of the disabled

JDC Facilitates Turkish-Israel Cooperation for Hearing Impaired Children

Sevgi Yüksel’s little boy was 8 months old when she first suspected something was wrong. She noticed that her child was having trouble hearing.

“We frequently consulted with pediatricians after that,” said Yüksel, who lives in Istanbul with her family. “By the time he was 1 ½ years old, the nature of his impairment became evident, and I was told that my son needed special training.”

Initially, Yüksel didn’t know where to turn.

“I didn’t have any information about how we could do this. I learned everything about my son’s care by doing my own research, and one of the most important things I discovered was that there was an institute in Israel that helps families like mine get the training and information they need.”

Yüksel was referring to the MIHA Center for the deaf. Through a JDC initiative launched in 2007, the Center has been engaged in an international cooperative effort to improve the lives of hearing impaired children in Turkey by lowering the age at which these impairments get identified, and by encouraging families with hearing impaired children to begin the rehabilitation process as early as possible.

Webventures: Harnessing the Web to Promote Self-Sufficiency

Israel's low workforce participation rate reflects a range of cultural, behavioral and regulatory obstacles to employment. These include language and disability, as well as lack of experience, soft skills or formal education. Chronically unemployed Israelis, such as adults with disabilities who face stigma, or immigrant adults in Israel's periphery who lack cultural and geographical access to employment – need support to surmount these barriers in order to achieve financial independence.

JDC's Webventures trains chronically unemployed Israelis in Internet entrepreneurship: a more accessible means of employment. That is, it can be home-based; experience and large overhead are not required; and language and culture are not apparent to the customer and may be utilized to reach niche markets. Participants learn the technical, business, marketing and legal aspects of starting a web-based business and are assigned a mentor to guide them through the process.

Most recently, business owners in Israel's southern conflict zone have experienced a major downturn in trade due to the ongoing security situation and the change in consumer culture whereby residents only shop when absolutely necessary. These entrepreneurs need to market their wares beyond the local economy, but lack the means, knowledge and tools. JDC has adapted and expanded Webventures to help them do so via the web. Business owners are helped to develop websites and receive guidance in web-marketing their products to expand their potential client base in Israel and around the globe. The project is creating long-term viability for these businesses, especially important in the event conflict re-ignites.

Arab Clergymen Fight for Disability Rights

From The Jerusalem Post
November 11, 2009
by Ruth Eglash

More than 200 sheikhs, imams and priests - all leaders from Israel's Arabic speaking community - gathered in Nazareth on Wednesday to take up the challenge of disabled rights and brainstorm ways to improve conditions for some 170,000 people with physical and mental disabilities in their community.

"There are many challenges facing people with disabilities living in the Arab-Israeli community," Avital Sandler-Loeff, Director of Masira, a three-year-old project of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) aimed at improving the lives and status of Arabic-speaking adults (21-65) with disabilities in Israel, told The Jerusalem Post.

Sandler-Loeff, who is also Area Head of Independent Living for the Unit for Disabilities and Rehabilitation for JDC-Israel, said that Masira had already provided training and tools to some 240 clergymen and religious leaders to understand the challenges faced by those with disabilities.

The goal of Wednesday's conference, she said, was to reach even more of the Arab-Israeli community leaders, most of whom are in a position to change general attitudes and educate others about the problems of being disabled.

"All participants willingly cooperated because they see it as an opportunity to create social change," said Sandler-Loeff. "For them it is a platform to use their influential position as social agents for change in their society."

Masira - A Journey

In line with its mission of developing social services for Israel's vulnerable populations, JDC-Israel invests approximately $10 million annually in the development of social services for Israeli Arabs, Druze and Bedouins across every JDC-Israel Division (with the exception of the Immigrant Integration Division). 

For Israel’s Arab disabled population, one program that JDC has established is Masira (“journey” in Arabic), an initiative to improve and advance the status and integration of people with disabilities in Arab society in Israel.


Video by JDC-Israel, the Unit for Disabilities and Rehabilitation.

Since 2006, Masira has made a deep impact in Israel’s Arab communities. Created to help overcome the societal stigmas Israeli-Arabs face in their own communities, and in general society, the program now operates 15 programs in 20 towns and villages, serving some 4,000 disabled adults and 130 professionals working with the disabled.

Gov't signs $6 million deal with private family foundation, JDC

From The Jerusalem Post
by Ruth Eglash
September 8, 2009

The government on Monday signed a $6 million deal with the US-based Ruderman Family Foundation and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee to create new services aimed at improving the lives of Israel's disabled population.

JDC Israel-director Arnon Mantver, Health Minister Yaakov Litzman, Minister of Welfare and Social Services Isaac Herzog and President of the Ruderman Foundation Jay Ruderman met Monday to finalize details of a partnership to improve the lives of disabled adults in Israel.

Called Named Masad Nehuyot in Hebrew - it has yet to receive an official English name - the project involves a $2m. investment from each of the parties, both of which will be involved in the decision-making process along with representatives from the disabled community.

"We have brought together many Jewish foundations to work with the Israeli government on projects here but none have been involved in such a high level of partnership," Alan Gill, executive director of international relations for the JDC, told The Jerusalem Post on Monday. "This is the first time we have created a national contractual partnership in this manner."

The four-year partnership, which will directly involve the Ministries of Health and Welfare and Social Services, will initially focus on supporting and developing seven centers for independent living countrywide. It is estimated that 700,000 people between the ages of 20-64 with varying types of disabilities currently live in Israel. Each year, more and more disabled people opt to live independently.

"We've been involved in working with special needs children for many years," explained Jay Ruderman, executive director of his family's multi-million dollar charitable trust, regarding the decision to enter such a partnership. "We wanted to be involved in something bigger in Israel, and this initiative will have so much impact on a specific area of society."

Ruderman, who made aliya with his family four years ago and now lives in Rehovot, even though the foundation is still based in Boston, added: "Bringing together the government and the JDC to improve the lives of people with disabilities is already a great achievement. We hope this project will raise further awareness in society."

According to Tamara Barnea, Director of the JDC's Unit for Disabilities and Rehabilitation, who will head the Masad Nehuyot project, the main aim is to allow individuals with disabilities to impact both their own community and the wider non-disabled community. It will focus on adults with any type of physical, mental or emotional disability.

Speaking at the Jerusalem Center for Assisted Living, which Ruderman visited Monday; Barnea said the initial goal was to develop additional centers around the country.

"The center in Jerusalem is the first of its kind in Israel," explained Barnea, adding that the center, which opened five years ago in the capital's Katamon neighborhood, was peer-led and provided advice, support and practical training to people with disabilities living independently.

"There is one other center in Beersheba, and a new center in Haifa is slated to open this week," she added. "The JDC and the government are strategic partners in this program. We know how to turn pilot projects into long-term sustainable services, but the goal is to include representatives of the disabled community in all our plans."

Barnea explained that the Ruderman Family Foundation's experience in developing projects for the disabled in the US would also be an important contribution.

"This partnership is vital," commented Moshe Yosef, who sits on the steering committee of the charity Disabled Now, which founded the Jerusalem center. "However, what is more important is that the disabled community is included in the decision-making process."

The wheel-chair bound university graduate, who also met Monday with Gill, Ruderman and Barnea, pointed out the charity's slogan, "Nothing about us - without us," and added: "We know better than anyone what is good for us and nothing should be decided without us."

Minister of Welfare and Social Services Isaac Herzog, who met earlier in the day with Deputy Health Minister Yaakov Litzman, Gill, Ruderman and JDC-Israel Director Arnon Mantver to finalize the deal, touted the arrangement as a "revolution in the treatment of people with disabilities in Israel."

"It will also give us the chance to progress professionally with the knowledge and understanding of how to work with and assist the disabled community."

You can also read our official press release about this wonderful new partnership HERE

Strengthening Father-Son Bonds in the Face of Disability

The emotions that arise within families when illness or disability strike can be unpredictable and exact terrible toll; so Haled Mugrabi, an Arab-Israeli father of three living in Raine discovered when his middle child Muhammad was born with severe mental and physical impairments.

“After his birth and when I found out about his condition I was very angry and mad at life, at God, at my wife, at myself,” Haled said of his young son, who would eventually be confined to a wheelchair because of motor difficulties. He would also suffer vision problems, and possess only minimal ability to communicate verbally.

In tears, he continued: “The anger and outrage was such an obstacle between myself and my son that I didn’t relate to him. All of my relatives and friends, when they would meet my son at home would be so excited by the angelic smile of his. And all I could see was an abomination in my home.”

For a long time, Haled couldn’t talk about his feelings of anger, guilt, and embarrassment to his family or anyone. Worse, his emotional neglect of Muhammad influenced how the boy’s siblings—a younger sister and an older brother—related to him. Often they ignored him or mocked him.

Fortunately, in May 2008 Haled took a critical first step toward healing the rift in his family when he attended his first meeting of the Brit Avot (Father’s Alliance)—a support group created for Arab-Israeli fathers of preschool children with special needs. The original model of Brit Avot, developed with the Ministry of Social Affairs, targeted fathers who are unemployed or underemployed in low wage jobs, and helps to open avenues to employment and improved father-child relations. Brit Avot is one of many components of the ECHAD (Early Childhood Achievement and Development) Partnership, a unique collaboration between JDC-Ashalim and the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco together with the Israeli government that aims to effect significant changes in how young Arab-Israeli children are educated, related to, and cared for in their communities. Brit Avot is helping Arab-Israeli fathers like Haled forge stronger, more supportive bonds with their children age six and under by encouraging father-child activities, enhancing parenting skills, and improving access to community-based social services.

“I joined the group primarily because of my wife’s pressure and my curiosity to meet other fathers that have children with special needs like my own son,” Haled said. Indeed, Haled’s experience is not unique. ECHAD—and the Brit Avot program, specifically—were created in the response to the sobering reality that Arab-Israeli children are among the most disadvantaged of all of Israel’s citizens. More than 50 percent live below the poverty line, and many grow up in large families, factors that make it especially difficult for parents to create healthy environments for their children’s development.

For Haled—and for many other fathers dealing with the challenges of poverty, unemployment and disability—the first step forward is often the hardest: “In the beginning, I didn’t participate much in the meetings but I didn’t miss the meetings because it was important for me to be present. As the group progressed I realized that my son’s condition was much better than some of the others. And from there I made the decision to get close to him and enjoy his smile.”

The results for the Mugrabis have been affirming and empowering.

According to Shahnaz Habashi Maree, the ECHAD Partnership coordinator who recently visited the family, theirs is a home no longer burdened by anger and shame, but is instead “full of life, warmth, and love for one another.” She added that the parents regularly visit the educational program Muhammad attends and are attentive to his progress, which has been considerable.

Now age five, Muhammad has shown substantial improvement in his behavior and development. Where he once only used frantic gestures and unintelligible sounds to communicate, he has now begun using his first discernable worlds—“Ba” for daddy and “Ma” for mommy. The siblings have also begun to interact more freely and positively with their brother.

Both parents credit these positive changes to a concerted effort to take greater responsibility for Muhammad’s care. In the past, he spent almost his entire day at a day care facility, returning home an hour before bedtime. Now, at Haled’s insistence, he only spends half days at day care, so there are more opportunities at home to interact.

Today, Haled says he is at peace with the fact that his son has special needs: “This is what God has given me, and today I am pleased with this gift and I will do whatever I can so that my son will be happy.”

'HaMasad': National Initiative for Israelis with Special Needs

In this briefing, Steve Schwager, CEO shares some exciting news about a new partnership that will benefit Israelis with special needs.

People often ask me what I like best about working at JDC. I respond with the following observation: JDC is large enough so that there is much to do for our people, but small enough so that with a little effort, you can change a single person’s life wherever on the globe they live. My well-used example is Klara Kogan, a 102-year-old woman in Kishinev, Moldova who is alive today only because of JDC.

Recently, Alan Gill, the head of our Global Resource Development efforts, sent me his story. I share it with you below:

A number of years back, I was walking down Emek Refaim St., the bustling little artery of our Jerusalem neighborhood of Baka/German Colony, when I saw a woman about my age coming towards me, strapped into a motorized wheelchair. As we approached one another, our eyes met and we smiled; then, for some reason, we slowed down and stopped to chat. We introduced ourselves—her name was Daniella. We learned that we both lived in the neighborhood and she asked me where my children went to school. When I mentioned the name of my daughter’s high school, Daniella started grilling me in not atypical Israeli assertive fashion as to the quality of the school’s education, the nature of the student body, the passion of the principal and teachers.

I asked Daniella why she was so interested in this particular school. She told me that she had a daughter and was thinking of sending her there when she reached high school age. I must have looked a bit surprised for she then said something akin to, “You didn’t know that a quadriplegic woman could have children, did you?” I was embarrassed and apologized for possibly offending her. Daniella just laughed and said, “If I could, I would give you a hug.”

Daniella and I went over to a bench so that we could both sit and talk. And then she told me the story of her life—an inspirational account of courage and determination to live in mainstream Israeli society. I told her that her story was close to both my heart and professional interests because I worked at “HaJoint”. Daniella’s eyes lit up and she said it was b’sheirt that we had met, for she was meeting later that week with JDC representatives to check out rental space for the newly initiated Center for Independent Living, a program that we were piloting for Israelis with special needs, in partnership with local authorities.

Since our first meeting, Daniella and I have talked many times, either during my walks through our neighborhood, at JDC offices, or at the now permanent site of The Zusman Center for Independent Living in Jerusalem. The Zusman Center, sponsored by our Honorary Life Board Member, Larry Zusman and his wife, Leonore, is one of the flagship projects for Israelis with special needs that have been developed by JDC over the years.

As a result of the pioneering work of JDC professionals Tammy Barnea and Avital Sandler-Loeff, and the vision and leadership of JDC-Israel’s Director, Arnon Mantver, we now have a National Initiative for Israelis with Special Needs. Known in short Hebrew as “HaMasad” ( NOT to be confused with the Mossad), there is now a national headquarters for planning and program development for the many thousands of Israelis with special needs. The Center for Independent Living and all the programs that JDC has developed—and those that will be initiated in the future—will hereafter be housed under one national roof partnership, HaMasad, with Tammy as its director. The founding partners of HaMasad are JDC, the Israeli Ministries of Finance, Social Affairs, Health, the National Social Security Institute, and a major American-Israeli Jewish foundation.

And this leads me to the latest and very exciting part of this story. I am very pleased to announce that the Ruderman Family Charitable Foundation has become a founding partner in HaMasad with a commitment of $2 million over the next four years (2009 through 2012).

I met Jay and Shira Ruderman soon after they moved to Israel from Boston a few years ago. Since then, we have spent many hours together building both a strong professional relationship and a good friendship. Together with my JDC colleague, David Zackon, we have traveled to Ukraine and Russia. We have worked closely as partners in two innovative and successful programs in Israel, one for families with special needs children (Amit L’Mishpacha) and a new education and training initiative (Excel-HT) for young Druze men and woman. The Ruderman family has a deep and demonstrated commitment to helping people with special needs. Through their vision and major philanthropic support, they have made it possible for special needs children to attend Jewish day schools in the Boston area. And upon making aliyah, they began exploring the best way to advance the cause of Israelis with special needs.

Jay Ruderman, who now serves as President of the Ruderman Family Charitable Foundation and whom I hope you have met at our recent Board and RD meetings, has made it a point to get deeply acquainted with JDC and its professional team. Jay epitomizes the promising changes in the philanthropic arena. He is not a “donor”, per se. He is an “investor”. Jay and his Foundation’s trustees want to insure that their philanthropic resources are invested strategically and wisely. He wants a return on their investments so that he can know that those precious philanthropic funds truly are bringing real results to those in need. He wants to be a partner in both funding and governance. And we at JDC say “amen!” as we embrace Jay’s philosophy and strategy of partnership with our major funders. In this time of economic turbulence and massive losses of Jewish foundation assets, we call upon the Jewish philanthropic community to emulate Jay and his peers who invest their resources as strategically as possible. This can only serve to stretch a limited pool of funds that much further while enhancing the lives of those of our People who are most in need of assistance.

I will end as I began, with Daniella, whom I recently saw once again in a neighborhood ice cream shop. We reminisced and laughed about our first encounter; then she proceeded to tell me about her daughter. She’s done superbly in school and, with tears in her eyes, Daniella spoke with great pride about her daughter being able to do what Daniella could not—serve in the Israeli Army.Daniella then thanked me—as a member of the JDC community—for helping to enable her to live independently and make it that much more possible for her to raise her precious daughter with dignity and pride. And this is what HaMasad is all about.Mazal tov and Yasher Koach to JDC, the Government of Israel, Jay Ruderman and the Ruderman Family Charitable Foundation, for having the vision and commitment to insure that our Israeli brethren with special needs live lives of dignity and purpose.
Irv and I want to thank the Ruderman family for this generous gift and hope it is the new start we urgently need for our 2009-2010 fundraising efforts. As you well know, JDC cares for the world’s most vulnerable Jews in Israel and across the globe. We are their safety net. Without JDC many would have no place to turn for the basic necessities of life (food, medicine, and shelter), while others would not or could not become productive members of society. With your caring and help, we bring hope and possibility—and we will continue our work until there isn’t any left to do.

JDC: A Lifeline In Times of Crisis

This report from a member of JDC-Israel's senior staff is a firsthand account of how JDC is working to create a lifeline to those most affected by the war in Gaza.
I remember the first time I went south during the war last week – admittedly I felt a little fearful. Three trips and two sirens later, my mind was more focused and my stomach less jittery.

We visited the JDC Havens of Calm program situated in an elementary school in Sderot. This is literally a dedicated room in the school itself that has been fitted and designated as a safe and therapeutic space in which students can freely enter and openly express their fears and worries as they receive trauma support. I met with the art therapist, the principal and the pet therapist that have been working in this haven of calm for the last 4 years. The are experiencing increased levels of behavioral and social problems, disturbances in class and trauma amongst the kids because of the rockets that land around them on a daily basis.

One girl who receives treatment in the room is extremely 'lucky' after a qassam landed right next to her house. Now she has regular episodes where she is unable to move her legs. The therapists go up to the class, massage her legs to restore partial movement and bring her to the Haven of Calm where she works with the animals or just sits and listens to music in the corner. She told the therapist "I don’t want this body anymore".

I also visited Beer Sheva, where unlike Sderot who have been rocketed for 8 years, they are relatively new to these traumatic experiences. The JDC Center for Independent Living (CIL) is a facility that identifies the need for and provides community-based services for people with disabilities. The CIL empowers its clients to live as independent a life as possible within their communities.

On December 27th, the CIL ceased all regular services and "turned on a dime" to become the emergency center for the disabled population in Beer Sheva. Student volunteers from the neighboring Ben Gurion University immediately called 750 CIL clients to check their status and needs. These volunteers have now been mobilized by CIL to deliver shopping, medicines and blankets. I have mentioned in previous updates the impossibility for the elderly and disabled to reach safe rooms before the rockets land and these volunteers were converting safe rooms into 24/7 living rooms for disabled clients by moving food, water bottles, beds and TV's into the bomb shelters.

Roi, a volunteer student for CIL, is a 25 year old psychology and philosophy student. He took me to the home of Mazal who is 53 years old and totally bedridden. Mazal has no bomb shelter or protected room so our task was to make one of the rooms as 'safe' as possible and equip the room with every necessity she might need. Her son is mentally disabled and visits her regularly but was unable to set up the room appropriately. It is incredibly depressing thinking of Mazal living through siren after siren but at least her son is able to be with her – unlike many others who have no-one.

When I asked why Roi stays in Beer Sheva and doesn't return to his home town of Acco he told me "In the summer of 2006, my home town was rocketed from the North and we were so reliant on the volunteers who came to help us from around the country. How can I leave now and not give back what I received?"

Despite the gloom, every cloud does have its silver lining. I have witnessed amazing things and inspirational people arise from this emergency. Whether it be new services, creative partnerships, additional duties, fresh character or advanced strategic thinking all lying latent that have been brought to the surface by this war. I live in hope that some good will come out of this terribly dark time.

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.