AMERICAN JEWISH JOINT DISTRIBUTION COMMITTEE INC

Program: Elderly in former Soviet Union

Program Description:

In the former Soviet Union, JDC helped support a massive, life-sustaining relief effort last year for 188,000impoverished and long-suffering elderly Jews. Through the network of 185Hesed welfare centers that it helped establish, over 539,000 food packages were distributed; 46,000food debit cards enabled elderly to purchase groceries;870,000mealswere served in communal settings; 1.1 millionmeals-on-wheels were delivered to the homebound, along with 470,000fresh food sets; and over5.2 million hoursof home care was provided by trained caregivers to 22,200 bedridden and/or homebound individuals. In addition, 41,586 welfare clients received warm clothing, blankets, overcoats, boots, and heating fuel to help them survive this region's notoriously harsh winters. 

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Program: Children in Israel

Program Description:

Nearly 350,000 children in Israel—15% of all young people—are in danger of suffering from physical, emotional, or sexual abuse, neglect, or a violent home environment. JDC-Ashalim has developed and piloted over 300 programs for these children and youth (aged 0-18 years) and their families that address the risks that they face and the possible outcomes: their dropping out of school, becoming socially alienated, or resorting to delinquent behavior. Through one of its main programs, “Better Together,” JDC-Ashalim helps transform the quality of life and opportunity for Israel’s inner-city youth by coordinating and creating services in these impoverished neighborhoods. JDC also develops innovative programs for other vulnerable populations in Israel, including the elderly, people with disabilities, and immigrants.  

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Program: Youth Village in Rwanda

Program Description:

The Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village (ASYV), a special project of JDC, was initiated by South-African native, lawyer, and mother Anne Heyman, after hearing a lecture on the 1994 Rwandan genocide. She learned that one of the great tragedies resulting from the genocide is the approximately 1.2 million children—almost 15 percent of the population—who have been forever robbed of their families, communities, homes, and of hope for a viable future in their country. ASYV is based upon the model of pre-existing youth village, Yemin Orde, located in Northern Israel which was originally established to house orphans of the Holocaust. The first group of 125 young residents of the village began classes at the start of the Rwandan school year in January 2009.    

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