Motta Gur 5
Petach Tikva, New York 492805
Lielle Barth, liellebarth627@gmail.com SOS Children’s Villages is a non-profit organization dedicated to aiding at-risk youth in Israel who have been removed from their homes and providing them with long-term care in a warm and loving familial setting. While we cannot change these children’s past, we strive to open the door to a brighter future for them all. Quite simply, we believe that every child deserves a home. Two youth villages for at-risk youth, one in Migdal Ha’emek and one in Arad. These villages provide a loving home for children between the ages of 6-18 who have either lost their biological family or were removed from their homes by welfare officials due to abuse, neglect, or other adverse home circumstances. The innovative model for our villages focuses on providing these children with long-term-care in a nurturing, family environment. Each child in our care grows up as part of a family unit, of 8-10 children, complete with a devoted house mother, who tends to all the children’s needs just as any mother would. We strive to enable these children to grow up as part of a family –complete with siblings and a loving parental figure-cared for, appreciated, and loved. Each village also features a comprehensive professional staff, including therapists, social workers, educational staff, and committed volunteers who see to each child’s unique emotional, educational, and developmental needs. We carefully construct a comprehensive plan of care (including counseling, educational support, and medical care) for each child, tailor-made to help them reach their full potential. Furthermore, we also offer various therapeutic activities for the youth in our care, including music therapy and psychodrama, to help give them the additional emotional support that they often require. As an integral part of our villages, we also operate an emergency intake shelter for children who had to be urgently removed from their homes, and for whom adequate placement has not yet been found. There are several ways to help SOS Children’s Villages’ children. People celebrating their Bar/ Bat Mitzvah are invited to spread the word of our organization or fundraise in any way that suits them, be it creating a fundraising website, organizing a second hand sale, a bike-a-thon, or any other activity you can think of! Our staff is also available via email to help come up with personalized ideas of how to shape your Mitzvah project. The raised funds can go to several areas of choice. One particularly meaningful option is to raise money for underpriveleged children to be able to have a Bar/ Bat mitzvah celebration of their own. Other potential options are raising money for the childrens’ therapies, clothing, food, education, or other realms of their lives. |