These leading NGOs are making a difference for Israeli vulnerable youth. Here’s how

As Israel looks towards a brighter future amidst its darkest days, three leaders of various organization that are strengthening the next generation of the Jewish people joined Eve Young, Economics Correspondent at the Jerusalem Post at their 2024 Annual Conference in New York on Monday to explore how their diverse, yet collaborative work is addressing the needs of the most vulnerable youth populations.

Omer Givati, CEO of SASA Setton, a social-educational organization for the education of hospitalized children in Israel, takes pride in Israel being one of the very few countries in the world to mandate continued learning for sick children.  “Education is not only for learning, and especially in times of crisis,” Givati shared, “Education is a source of strength and stability, that builds resilience for the child.”

SASA Setton enhances the capabilities of the Ministry of Education, who support more than 140,000 hospitalized children each year, cooperating with 1,500 educational teams of the Ministry of Education across 41 schools in different hospital settings, including general, psychiatric, and rehabilitation facilities. “SASA Setton is fully committed to providing cutting-edge technologies, state-of-the-art innovative learning spaces, and an original, comprehensive curriculum for children from all backgrounds, regardless of their race, religion or socioeconomic status” says their CEO. “This, while creating a safe and happy space inside to complexity of hospital environment”.

“Post-October 7th, our mission to provide psychological support and education is more critical than ever”: says Omer. The October 7th attack left many children deeply traumatized, highlighting the urgent need for educational and psychological support. 19,000 Israeli children have suffered trauma so severe that they require hospitalization.” That’s why SASA Setton partnered with Anna Freud Center (London) and Barzilai Medical Center to train mental health professionals in trauma-focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and help them help the children of southern Israel.

Another top priority project the organization promotes, is restoring and upgrading early childhood facilities at Southern Israel. These centers of excellence will be equipped with cutting-edge technology and novel pedagogical approaches, promoting emotional healing and drawing families back to their communities.

Focusing on the day after October 7, ADV Ziv Magor, CEO of Alumot Or, an organization which provides and develops excellency in education for young people with disabilities and youth at risk, examined how to build a better society for people with disabilities.  The biggest challenge of any organization dealing with vulnerable youth populations is how to assist them in transitioning into adulthood and becoming contributing members of the greater Israeli society. 

“We develop pedological programs established at the human center approach,” explained Magor, explaining that their focus is on providing support for the individualized potential, based on student desire and needs  rather than categorically based on their disability, “We are doing this through promoting a holistic point of view.  We are not just working with students with disabilities, but also with the families, who serve as a [catalyst] for developing their advancement.”

Alumot Or’s motto, “nothing about us without us,” places the person with a disability as the expert for his life. He is the one who makes decisions about his choices in life and not others. Therefore, every educational program constitutes a tailored made program according to the student individual needs and requires. No decision regarding the person's life be made without the person himself.  Today, Alumot Or operates 16 schools, from Kiryat Shmona to the Negev, serving some of the most critical populations given the current security climate within Israel.

ELI- Israel Association for Child Protection, a leader in dealing specifically with the various aspects of child abuse and prevention, works with 5,000 abused children and their families each year, and operates school-based awareness and prevention programs for 100,000 children throughout Israel out of which 1.5% disclose cases of abuse.  With the compounded pressures of an ongoing war, Eran Zimrin, president of ELI, explained how his organization mobilized immediately following the October 7 attacks, arriving at the hotels for evacuated families by Monday morning.

“We did not know what to expect.  We sat in the hotels, four therapists in each hotel,” Zimrin shared, “During the first three weeks, we were trying to restore basic abilities to the victims, helping them to drink, eat, sleep, communicate.  They were in an absolute situation of shock and not ready to start any therapy of any kind at the beginning.”

Expounding on the harrowing first-hand accounts Zimrin heard from the victims themselves, he demonstrated a level of empathy and understanding that drives ELI’s single-point-of-entry comprehensive service.  Over the course of three weeks, ELI met with 2,000 victims, ultimately identifying 200 cases (children and their families), for whom they have thus far secured funding for 130, for long-term care and rehabilitation.

The panel concluded with the now iconic image of Noya Dan, the 12-year-old with autism, Harry Potter super-fan, who was murdered along with her grandmother on October 7th.  As part of the Alumot Or network, Ziv Magor announced a new initiative for an Alumot Or Center in Eshkol in memory of Noya, incorporating an experiential-educational competent to allow neurotypical people to perceive the world through the perspective of autistic individuals, with their guidance.

Alumot Or, SASA Setton and ELI sponsored a portion of the Jerusalem Post Annual Conference 2024.