At ELEM, we support Israeli youth of all backgrounds. There's no better place to see this than at HaLev (The Heart) every winter, where Hanukkah candles shine bright against a communally decorated Christmas tree. This year, coming together to celebrate light and hope is especially important.
ELEM is proud to provide a place for at-risk youth to celebrate their holidays and find a sense of belonging, safety, and warmth.
Our staff, volunteers, and youth at HaLev (The Heart) Haifa take this time to wish you a happy winter holiday season!
At ELEM, our first thought with any news update is always the youth: the children, teens, and young adults impacted by the decisions of policy-makers and world actors. The fragile ceasefire in Israel’s north underscores the critical importance of ELEM's programs:
- The scars of a year of trauma do not fade easily. A year of displacement, fears, exposure to dangerous situations outside of the home, and the destabilization of family units have adversely affected youth, with ramifications that will be felt for a long time. ELEM’s timely interventions will prevent trauma from turning into PTSD.
- It will take many months to ensure cities in Israel’s north are once again inhabitable, due to rocket damage, abandoned infrastructure, and the breakdown of social services. ELEM will continue to support displaced teens and young adults until they can return home.
- Municipalities in repopulated cities will turn to ELEM to implement new in-school support centers (Shluks), implement after-school drop-in centers (Hafuch), and expand our digital programs, to help reintegrate youth into their communities. We also anticipate that Druze communities, Arab communities, and Haredi communities will continue to reach out to us to assist in providing specialized trauma care over the coming months.
This is a challenging time of transition, and there is a gruelling journey ahead for these youth as they begin to return to normalcy. Thanks to your support, ELEM will be there with them every step of the way, lightening the load and ensuring they have the tools to heal, grow, and thrive once again.
Because of your support, displaced teens in the North, like Noga, are able to access ELEM's programs. For Noga, who was evacuated from Kiryat Shmona and whose parents both lost their jobs, her chances of developing PTSD are lowered because of her connection to ELEM.
"Our stories are not that important," says Noga, 16. "Everyone is focused on the war and the hostages, but at least the people at the Breathing Spaces are there to listen. I can talk to them about anything, and they never judge me."
Establishing personal connections is a core component of the effective, trauma-informed interventions expertly initiated by ELEM staff and volunteers. Each of our centers offers the chance for youth to connect with stable adult mentorship, nonjudgmental support, and tangible, need-based aid.
Help us continue our work with youth like Noga, and share our campaign to get us to our goal!
Thanks to your incredible support, we’ve reached 25% of our goal to support traumatized and at-risk youth in Israel’s north. Every dollar raised directly supports ELEM’s 17 programs in the region, including in-school initiatives, after-school drop-in centers, and our Breathing Spaces program for evacuated teens. Your contributions are providing critical aid, including emergency food and shelter, trauma-informed care at all hours of the day and night, and safe spaces for youth of every background.
Your generosity allows us to keep our outreach vans on the road despite ongoing rocket fire, maintain the 24/7 HaLev (The Heart) Haifa shelter—which urgently needs funds to add a bomb shelter—and expand programming for both local and evacuated teens. With schools struggling to maintain normalcy, our after-school Hafuch centers and late-night Breathing Spaces are stepping up as the only reliable routine for many youth.
Maya,* whose family was evacuated to the a town outside of T'veria (Tiberias), pleaded with her parents to relocate closer to the city center - all so she could more easily access our Breathing Spaces there. Stories like hers highlight the deep impact of ELEM's work, which provide critical stability and support to youth in need.
Let’s keep the momentum going, and ensure these innovative support services remain available to every teen who needs them. Together, we can rise to meet this urgent need and strengthen Israel's future.
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1st Tyler Samuels $265.81 raised 8 donations
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2nd GLENDA SHACTER $114.18 raised 1 donation
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