Back to the blogNA’AMAT Israel Emergency Fund
December 19, 2023
NA’AMAT Israel Update
Emergency Day Care Center – Soroka
Be’er Sheva Day Care Center is currently set up at Soroka Hospital as an emergency day care facility during the war. This center is serving families of hospital employees. Currently, there are 80 children enrolled in this day care center.
This center is in desperate need of renovations. The estimated cost to renovate the kitchen and facility is $55,000.
Please consider donating to our Israel Emergency Fund here.
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As Israelis continue to face life during war, new necessities are apparent, and one of those is the need to have sufficient, accessible safety shelters. At many NA’AMAT facilities, we need to purchase and install additional shelters to protect our students and staff from rocket attacks and danger. These shelters, or migunit, provide safe space for a maximum of 30 people and cost $50,000 each.
Here is a snapshot of the need in our facilities across the country:
At our youth villages, where over 1,000 students benefit from the specialized therapies and educational support our programs provide, classes have moved outside to tents so that students are close enough to the shelters in the event of an attack. In Ayanot, Israelis have 90 seconds (from the launch of a rocket from Gaza) to reach the secure room; in Kanot, which sits 40km from Gaza, the time is only 60 seconds to reach safety. These schools serve students predominantly from underrepresented and/or under-resourced families or whose needs were not met by the traditional school systems, and through wide-ranging support from therapists and tutors to psychiatrists and teachers, help our students thrive. Currently, we lack sufficient shelter for all students and staff on campus. Each youth village needs two supplemental shelters, which will be placed close to classrooms and living spaces.
Many of our daycare centers also need these supplemental shelters. The Weitzman daycare center in Holon, for example, with 83 students in three classrooms, needs three shelters. At present, operating under the instructions and authority of the Home Front Command, the daycare center had to close three times just last week when conditions were not deemed safe enough due to insufficient shelters. Similarly, the daycare center in Petach Tikva needs three shelters for the 84 students we serve there each day. In both cities, Israelis have 90 seconds to reach the safe room.
Why is it so critical that we keep our daycare centers’ doors open during the war? In addition to supporting working parents, who depend on NA’AMAT for childcare, our programs provide stability, excellent education, and strong support to the children we welcome to our facilities across the country. At least 50% of the children who attend our daycare centers qualify for subsidies from the government. It is these families who are most vulnerable during times of such tremendous stress and disruption.
Shirli Shavit from NA’AMAT International explains, “All children all over Israel need the most support these days as these are not normal times. It is an ongoing memorial day. Every day we have more funerals; every day we know families and relatives and friends whose loved ones have been killed or wounded. It’s very difficult for everyone.”
Make a donation to our 2023 Emergency Fund today.
Assistance to the IDF Soldiers
NA’AMAT has been providing housing for reserve soldiers from the paratroopers unit at our youth villages in Ayanot and Kanot. The youth village locations provide a safe place for the soldiers to stay until they are called to active duty. NA’AMAT staff have taken the time to visit military bases and units around the country to deliver words of gratitude and hand out toiletry kits to women soldiers.
City of Eilat
60,000 residents in Eilat have been displaced due to their homes being damaged or destroyed. NA’AMAT local staff have been helping the evacuees cope with this situation by providing basic necessities including toiletries, clothing and food. Going above and beyond their normal duties, our staff is also reaching out to the community and businesses to connect those who can help and those who need help. Dental professionals were recruited to provide dental treatments. Additional social workers and psychologists were recruited to provide emotional therapy.
Across the Country
There has been a shortage of agricultural workers across the country due to workers serving in the IDF or foreign workers leaving the country. NA’AMAT staff have stepped in to help harvest vegetables and fruit as well as recruit volunteers and arrange transportation to the fields.
Youth Village Learning Continues
Almost all students have returned to the youth villages. In order to accommodate all students safely, those who are not attending learning sessions inside a safe room are attending class in tents that have been erected next to shelters in the villages. Additional mobile shelters have been purchased and saferooms are being installed.
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Every day brings new challenges and needs for the women, youth, and families in Israel. Through our NA’AMAT Emergency Fund, those who have donated have already made a great impact. Thank you to all our donors, and especially our 100 NEW donors to NA’AMAT — we are honored to have you join our community. Below are two examples of how your contributions are making a difference:
About 150 NA’AMAT staff members and their families have been evacuated from conflict areas and are reeling from losing loved ones, including children, and seeing their homes destroyed. NA’AMAT is providing therapy to these displaced workers, as well as 1000 NIS each for groceries and supplies. The Emergency Fund pays for this assistance to our NA’AMAT family.
The NA’AMAT Support Hotline has expanded hours and staffing to address the increased need for emotional and psychological support at this time. The hotline is now open 12 hours per day, 6 days per week, and is adding more therapists, social workers, and psychologists, as well as improving the technology to increase capacity. Additional funds are welcome to meet the increased needs.
Please follow our social media posts for the most up to date NA’AMAT information.
Make a donation to our 2023 Emergency Fund today.
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Our NA’AMAT Emergency Fund is set up to provide support to those who need it the most: from repairs to damaged homes, to basic hygiene supplies, to the expansion of a NA’AMAT Resource Hotline, and much more, NA’AMAT is able to provide for children, teens, and families of all backgrounds during this crisis. Just this week we made a $100,000 transmission to NA’AMAT Israel to meet their urgent needs. With your help, we will continue to do more.*
As you’re reading this, NA’AMAT is hosting 15 families from Sderot, Netivot and Ashkelon in Ayanot youth village – a total of 90 people including many children, and the number is growing every day.
Please watch the video below to get a sense of how NA’AMAT is helping Israelis right now.
The families at Ayanot need necessities, food, clothes, toys, psychological and emotional therapy, special activities for the children to lower their stress and anxiety. It costs approximately $1600 to support 1 family. Our goal is to help as many families as possible.
Please consider donating to our emergency fund to continue this important work today. Let’s help as many families as we can.
*Disclaimer: From the time WE write this to the time you read it, the situation in Israel and the war with Hamas may have changed. Please follow our social media posts for the most up to date NA’AMAT information.
Make a donation to our 2023 Emergency Fund today.
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We are devastated by the violence and terror that erupted in Israel on the holy day of Shabbat that was the catalyst to the war that is now in its early days. We stand in solidarity with our Israeli friends and family, condemning acts of terror, fear, and violence against innocent civilians. We firmly support Israel’s right to defend its people against unprovoked attacks by terrorists. Our prayers go out for the safety and immediate release of those held hostage, and for the healing of the wounded and traumatized, and we send love and prayers to comfort those who have lost loved ones.
We are still learning the extent of the damage and destruction faced by our NA’AMAT daycare centers (see the images below of one damaged daycare center), youth villages, and domestic violence shelter, but any donations made through this link allocated to support our NA’AMAT families, students, facilities, and staff in Israel with the most immediate needs.
The NA’AMAT family will find solace in our traditions and derive strength from our supportive and resilient community to help us navigate through the tough times ahead.
Make a donation to our 2023 Emergency Fund today.
We stand with Israel today and every day.
Am Yisrael Chai,
The NA’AMAT USA Board and Staff