Read a story and give.
Read these personal stories brought to us by social services professionals around Israel. The names of all applicants have been changed to protect individual privacy. The names of the verifying social worker and agency are real. Photographs are illustrative only.
Ya’akov and Rachel have 15 children, five of whom are under age 20. Ya’akov used to learn in a Kollel, which gave him a monthly stipend, but that stopped with the onset of the Corona crisis. Rachel worked as an aide to special needs children until, 17 years ago, her...
Hannah grew up in an abusive house and left her house in her early teens. Hannah has not lived at home since then. She briefly turned to drugs, but therapy and the support of social programs helped her to overcome this temptation. Hannah finished school and applied to serve in...
Stephen, 21, is an inspiring young man. At the age of 15, Stephen, along with his parents, immigrated from Russia. A year and a half ago, as Stephen was about to be inducted into the IDF, his father passed away from cancer. Stephen was released from the army because, as...
Rina, 34, and Shai, 39, are trying their hardest to raise their five young children on a shoestring budget. Rina doesn’t work outside of the home, and Shai works as a kashrut supervisor for a local butcher. They live off of Shai’s small income and a monthly government subsidy. The...
Leah, 49, is going through a very rough time. She suffers from depression, OCD and PTSD, which leave her with very little energy to work or take care of her house and children. Leah has difficulty setting boundaries with her children, and they have stopped listening to her. At 28,...
Ayelet, 21, is raising two young children on her own; their father does not acknowledge them, has changed his telephone number and wants nothing to do with the small family. The demands of raising a one-year-old and an infant on her own make it impossible for Ayelet to hold a...
Ilan, 44, and Inbal, 39, have long struggled financially. Ilan has been unable to work for years because of a combination of physical and psychological problems. Inbal was an aide to the elderly but after the birth of their fifth child less than a year ago, she did not go...
Bracha and Gavriel struggle to make ends meet. Bracha, 47, worked as a cleaner but was laid off during the Corona crisis. Gavriel, 62, is disabled and cannot work. The couple supports their six children, ages 9-26, on monthly government stipends. Gavriel recently completed a stint in rehab for an...
Zvi, 20, has had a very sad and difficult upbringing. Both of Zvi’s parents are cancer survivors and live off of their disability payments. Zvi has a volatile relationship with his father but is very close with his mother. He has a very unstable relationship with his twin brother as...
Tzippi, 61, is living a very sad and difficult life. She immigrated to Israel from South America at the age of 12. Today, Tzippi is divorced, with two grown children. She always suffered from physical ailments, which have only intensified over the years. Tzippi was a dialysis patient for many...
Rinat, 28, had a difficult upbringing but is working hard to build a stable and independent future for herself. Rinat is the youngest of seven siblings. Her father died when she was young, and her mother couldn’t support and raise her children alone. At the age of 11, Rinat was...
Until last January, Olga had a steady job as a cleaner. After a serious bout of apoplexy, however, the doctor ordered her to stop working. Since then, her health has deteriorated. She is taking medication, but it is not helping much. Olga and her 14-year-old daughter, Alexa, live in a...
Elena, 23, is determined to break out of the cycle of poverty she grew up in. Elena’s father is a part-time maintenance man in a school; her mother works in the same institution as a part-time cleaner. Together they bring in a very small income, certainly not enough to support...
Project ONWARD 2021
for the Benefit of Single Mothers in Distress
Project ONWARD is a fund created in order to address the needs of Israeli single mothers and young women who are attempting to overcome the challenges of poor housing conditions and inadequate resources and support. Project ONWARD funds basic needs (fridges, beds, ovens and washers), educational and vocational programs and computers that...
Project BOOST 2021
for the benefit of At-Risk Youth
Through our work with social services departments around the country we know how badly at-risk youth need our continuous support. We have therefore established Project BOOST, an ongoing fund, so that together, we can help them. The goals of Project BOOST are: To empower at risk youth to complete schooling...
Recently Funded Personal Stories
Sivan, 53, is going through a difficult time. Sivan is a single mother to four children, two of whom are older and living on their own. Sivan’s younger two children, ages 10 and 13, live at home with her. Sivan worked steadily as a teacher for many years. After going...
Rebecca did not really mourn after the premature death of her son several years ago; she thought that she was handling the blow well and moved on with her life. But the recent deaths of her parents in addition to that unexamined trauma sent Rebecca into a depression that cost...
Two years ago, a fire broke out in Rosa’s apartment. Rosa was able to escape, with severely burned hands and lung damage from smoke inhalation. She was hospitalized and then in rehabilitation until very recently. Rosa saved her infant daughter, but her mother died as a result of the fire....
Eden, 63, made aliya from Ethiopia 14 years ago. Her husband died en route to Israel, and she arrived as a widow. Because of her medical problems – diabetes, high blood pressure, liver problems – Eden is unable to work. She relies on her old age stipend from the government....
Victoria, 54, is a single mother to two adult children. For years, Victoria dedicated herself to caring for her younger son who suffers from a chronic heart issue. He is now 19 years old and independent. Victoria knows that it is time for her to build a life for herself...
Fanny and Ivan Petrov immigrated to Israel from Russia six years ago with their two children. Both of them had professional positions in Russia but unfortunately, neither of their skill sets could be put to use here. That didn’t stop them though. Ivan took a full-time job as a factory...
Tom, 46, is trying his hardest to support himself and his four sons, ages 11-17. Seven years ago, Tom’s wife left him for another man. After some time, it was agreed that Tom would have custody of the boys, while his wife took custody of their two daughters, ages 18...
Alma, 24, is raising her 11-month-old son on her own. Alma and her ex-husband had a very rocky marriage that included frequent fighting and verbal abuse. Once Alma understood that her husband wouldn’t invest in the relationship, she left him. Alma and her son moved in with her mother. Since...