עברית
|
JDC-Israel
Division for Disabilities and Rehabilitation | |
|
|
News from the Division for Disabilities and Rehabilitation
Israel Unlimited
Israel Unlimited is a strategic public-private partnership between the Government of Israel, JDC and the Ruderman Family Foundation to meet the needs of disabled adults, through the development of innovative social services and programs tailored to various types of disabilities. Israel Unlimited is the flagship of the Division for People with Disabilities and Rehabilitation within JDC-Israel.
"Accessible Community" celebrates a decade of activity
In mid-January, the Accessible Community program held a conference celebrating a decade of activity. The program seeks to promote equal opportunities for people with disabilities through improved accessibility (physical, social, informational, policy-making) and increased participation in community life. There are Accessible Communities in 50 local authorities with over 700 volunteer activists.
Partnering the Accessible Community program are: the Division for Disabilities and Rehabilitation, JDC-Israel; the Association of Community Centers; the Ministry for Social Affairs and Social Services; the National Insurance Institute; the Ministry of Health; the Ministry of Education; and the local authorities.
At the conference, Nahum Itzkovitz, the Director General of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Social Services, announced that he will work towards establishing an additional 25 Accessible Communities.
"A Warm Winter"
_2.jpg) The Hadassah Women's Organization adopted the Supportive Community for People with Disabilities in Karmiel and assist in organizing the social activities in the Community. Among other things, the Hadassah women and the women members of the Supportive Community meet every other week. They decided to have a joint knitting club.
At the initiative of one of the women members of the Supportive Community, a widow who is disabled and who has a son who is disabled, they decided to give the items they knitted to IDF soldiers.
Inter-faith Cooperation to Promote the Status of Disabled in the Arab Society
Two hundred religious leaders, Muslims, Druze, Christians, _2.jpg) and people with disabilities and professionals, gathered in Nazareth, in a first of its kind inter-faith conference, to advance the status of the disabled in the Arab society in Israel. The conference was the culmination of three years of cooperation between the Masira program of the Division for Disabilities and Rehabilitation at JDC Israel, the Division of Religious Communities, of the Ministry of Interior, and the Masar Institute.
The deputy director of the Al Shams radio station, Nabil Salame, said in a panel of media people: "The fact that so many important religious leaders gathered here shows that the issues of people with disabilities are on the agenda of the Arab society and we in the media should give it greater prominence".
 In the conference the religious leaders called toward change in the status of the disabled, breaking stereotypes and the need for inter-faith cooperation to achieve the change.
A panel of women with disabilities requested that the religious leaders take concrete steps that would help disabled women to integrate into the society, study, work and raise family. The Imams in response asked the women to guide them in better understanding their unique needs.
"Safe House" for People with Disabilities – An Experimental Program
Ninety economically distressed families with disabilities in Sderot, Be'er Sheva, Beit She'an and the Emek Hama'ayanot Regional Council benefit from a project aimed at improving the safety, accessibility and quality of life of people with disabilities in their homes. The project includes essential repairs, light renovations, painting, installing new assistive devices and adaptations in the homes of people with disabilities whose apartments are in disrepair.
The partners in the experimental project enabled by a gift to JDC include: Division for Disabilities and Rehabilitation, local authorities, the operators of Supportive Communities for People with Disabilities, Amigour and Amidar, which are public housing agencies (which partly fund the repairs), the Milbat center for technology and accessibility, the Gvanim Association for Education & Community Involvement and the Equality and Justice for the Disabled Association. Using knowledge accumulated through the Besevah Tova program for impoverished elderly and the Mishol program promoting community solidarity in distressed areas, the model developed forms the infrastructure for wider implementation in the future.
"Masad Disabilities" Strategic Partnership for the Planning and Developing of Services for the Advancement and Integration of People with Disabilities in the Community
The Government of Israel, JDC-Israel and the Ruderman Family Foundation signed an agreement to set up a strategic partnership for the development of community services for people with disabilities, with core funding of 24 million NIS over four years.
_2.jpg) The partners are: the Ministry of Social Affairs and Social Services, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Finance, the National Insurance Institute, JDC-Israel, the Ruderman Family Foundation. The target population of Masad Disabilities is adults with physical, sensory, emotional and cognitive disabilities, as well as people with chronic health problems that cause functional impairment who live in the community.
Masad Disabilities will develop services that promote independent living and participation in the community such as Supportive Communities for the Disabled and Centers for Independent Living; will address needs of disabled at high risk; and will develop health prevention and health promotion programs tailored to various types of disabilities.
For more news - click here | |
| |
|
|
Division Background
Since its establishment in 1914, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (AJJDC) has been working for the advancement of people with disabilities, while responding to their special needs. The character and emphasis of these efforts have adapted to the changing conditions and needs of Israeli society. Through the years, the focus of the Division for Disabilities, has adapted accordingly, shifting from direct assistance and development of institutional services to the establishment of educational and training frameworks, the development of voluntary organizations and community services, to the construction of information and research databases.
Today, approximately 700,000 adults in Israel (18% of the 21-65 population), are affected by some form of physical, sensory, emotional or cognitive disability. Among them 9% report difficulties in daily functioning as a result of medical or health problems. In spite of the resources invested by the government's welfare system and a range of voluntary bodies, many essential needs remain unmet.
The Division for Disabilities and Rehabilitation was established to meet those needs through partnership with national and municipal entities, the voluntary sector and academe. | |
|
|
Division Activities
The Division for Disabilities and Rehabilitation in JDC-Israel focuses on the development and implementation of solutions that meet the specific needs of Israel’s adult population (age 21-65) with disabilities, which today numbers some 700,000 people. This population includes people with physical disabilities, those with sensory disabilities (blind and vision-impaired, deaf and hearing-impaired) and those with cognitive or mental disabilities.
The Unit addresses their multi-faceted needs in the following areas:
Community-Based Support Services for Independent Living
Peer-to-Peer Professional Assistance and Leadership Development
-
Blind counselors man information units for the newly blind and hearing-impaired volunteer act as information providers in information units for their peers.
-
Deaf mentors work with pupils in schools and in the community
-
Women with disabilities develop services specifically for women with disabilities
-
Accessibility trustees with disabilities promote physical accessibility
-
Mediators with disabilities specialize in resolving disability-related conflicts
-
Members of two organizations, Disabled Now – Movement for the Rights of People with Disabilities and Equality & Justice for the Disabled, are setting up the first centers of their kind for independent living in Israel
Promoting Accessibility
-
Incorporating the concept of accessibility into everyday life by raising public awareness;
-
Developing models of accessibility in communities and increasing the involvement of people with disabilities in decision-making processes on issues that relate to their lives;
-
Improving accessibility to information on services and entitlements.
Promoting the Status and Condition of People with Disabilities in Outlying Regions
People with Disabilities in the Arab Society in Israel
- Strengthening NGOs for the disabled
- Making information accessible
- Changing attitudes toward the disabled
- Promoting inter-sector coordination
Emergency Programs
- Increasing the preparedness of people with disabilities, professionals and volunteers to cope with emergency situations
Knowledge, Management and Training
The Division engages in training programs and in the development and dissemination of knowledge. Its core programs are evaluated and the Unit produces resources such as printed reports and manuals that are distributed to the target population at seminars and conferences. | |
|
| 
|
(English abstract is available at the end of the report)
| |
|
|
|
Daniella Brafman, Director of the Center for Independent Living (CIL) in Jerusalem (on left ) and Michelle Taller, Coordinator of the Peer Counseling Program at CIL
| |
|
|
Graduates of the Deaf Storytellers course
| |
|
|
.JPG)
Hannah and Shay Lavee, members of the Supportive Community for People with Disabilities in Gilo, Jerusalem
| |
|
|
Practicing teamwork: cracking the kno
| |
|
|
1.JPG)
International Day for Disabled Persons in cooperation with the Zusman Center for Accessible Tourism for People with Disabilities (Telem): accessible information for blind persons
| |
|
| ...In their own words |  | | |
|
