The Creating with Love program provides adults with mental disorders (such as post-traumatic stress syndrome, schizophrenia, or depression) with a warm and supportive environment in which they can acquire both the tools and the self confidence, needed to integrate into society and the workforce. The program is based in a sheltered factory where participants take part in various workshops taught by professional instructors. Through the workshops they acquire artistic and production skills and then go on to work in their preferred field of interest, including carpentry, artistic painting, mosaics, jewelry, furniture restoration, sewing, letter carving, and DAS (air-drying modeling clay). Participants receive monthly salaries for their work in the factory and all of the items they produce are sold in stores throughout the country.
Our professional and caring staff members, rehabilitative guides, and social workers meet with each member of the program to help build an individualized work plan and offer direction and guidance. Due to the number and variety of paths we offer, we ensure that participants are free to choose a direction that interests them and expresses their individuality. Through this program, adults suffering from mental disorders are given the opportunity to start their lives from anew, increase their self image and self confidence, earn a living while expressing their abilities and talents, and acquire valuable skills for entering the working world. This program ultimately works to achieve the organization's main goal of integrating participants into the mainstream workforce in the field of his/her choice.
Shikum Acher (Hebrew for “Alternative Rehabilitation”) is an Israeli non-profit organization providing skills and support to rehabilitants with mental disorders in order to promote and advance their employment in suitable and fulfilling jobs in the free market. We also aim to promote awareness of the abilities and contributions of the special needs population. We were established in 2004 with the aim to change the perception the public has of the special needs sector with the goal of promoting more people to work in the community and get out of protected working frameworks.
We currently run three main programs:
1)“Kol Echad Yachol” (Everyone is Capable) helps our rehabilitees gain employment in the mainstream job market, under the guidance and accompaniment of our social worker. We work with employers to reduce stigmas and help them provide each rehabilitant with the best working environment possible to increase their chances of success. At the same time, we ensure the creation of a worker / employer relationship that is directly between the rehabilitant and the employer. This program enables participants to become confident, independent, and contributing citizens – and constitutes a step towards improving society’s image of people with mental disorders.
2) “Creating with Love” is a program that targets adults (over age 18) who cope with mental illnesses. Participants learn a practical trade that suits their individual tastes and desires; develop positive work habits, pick up social skills, and receive the opportunity to practice and hone these skills. The products participants produce are then sold in stores throughout Israel. They are then aided in using the trade they learned to integrate into the mainstream job market.
3) "Kelim Shloovim" is an online store (www.kelimshloovim.org.il) run by our rehabilitees that markets the goods created in our protected factory. Shikum Acher opened a new store in 2012 in Tel Aviv as an extension of this successful program. The store, the first of its kind in Israel, is visited by hundreds of people everyday and is operated by the rehabilitants themselves who participate in training courses for sales, management, store operation and more. Their experience and training in the store better prepares them to work in the free market in the future. The store sells products created by the special needs community in order to raise awareness of the creative abilities of the community.
Shikum Acher has been effectively running rehabilitation-through-employment frameworks since 2004. Our organization focuses on individualized rehabilitation, ensuring that each participant takes responsibility for his or her own employment future and works effectively towards self-fulfillment.
Shikum Acher's unique approach focuses on recovery, encouraging independence amongst the rehabilitants, and supporting and promoting the rehabilitants as they search for jobs and promote their own employment status on their own. Our work with employers is multifaceted; we encourage them to hire members of the special needs community, and also support and advise them in order to create the most positive working environment possible for the rehabilitants.
Shikum Acher was established with the goal of helping individuals with mental disorders fulfill their true potential and integrate into mainstream society and the labor market. "Creating With Love", our main program, was initiated to provide a rehabilitative framework for our target population that will ultimately enable them to integrate into the workforce and improve both their quality of life and self-esteem. Our program, which is operated at a sheltered factory, strives to provide its participants with professional work skills and experience in a trade they enjoy, positive work habits, and social skills vital to coping in a working environment, as well as the opportunity to earn a living. We put an emphasis on striving to reduce poverty among our participants, as most of them have extremely low income, generally living off of their small monthly allowance from Social Security (approximately $480) and their earnings from the factory. Our ultimate goal is to integrate participants who have spent a significant amount of time in our program into the mainstream workforce using the professional and social skills they acquired, and integrate into society as contributing citizens.
A secondary, but no less important, goal of the program is to change society’s negative attitude towards our target population. By integrating individuals with mental disorders into mainstream society, we hope to lessen the stigmas related to this sector. Furthermore, we market the products created in our sheltered factory in regular stores throughout Israel, which causes a large number of people to see what our participants can do, thus changing the former negative image.
Name of Organization:Shikum Acher
Number of Paid Staff:1 f/t, 6 p/t
Number of Volunteers:4
Total Organizational Expenses:$307,500
% of Organizational Overhead Expenses:12%
Our rehabilitation program is unique in that it offers the participants a diverse array of work possibilities (carpentry, artistic paintings, mosaics, jewelry, furniture restoration and renovation, etc.) so that each individual can choose what field to pursue. The various fields also enable each participant to express him/herself as an individual. We put a special emphasis on each individual, providing all of our participants with comprehensive support, and we grant flexibility in meeting their special needs. Our program also encourages each individual to take on responsibility, as we utilize our more experienced participants as instructors.
It should also be noted that Creating With Love is the only rehabilitation program in Israel that operates a rehabilitative furniture restoration workshop for the mentally ill and includes professional equipment and guidance. We work strictly with professionals, and the products that we produce are of high quality.
The following is a letter written by "Irena", a participant in our program:
My name is Irena and I have post traumatic stress. When I first visited Shikum Acher three years ago I immediately felt a sense of belonging. I have been working there ever since in the "Creating With Love" program. In the past, my disability made it hard for me to integrate into new workplaces and I was never given the opportunity to advance. It was different at Shikum Acher. I started off making love cards and it didn't take long before the staff asked me to advance to more complex work. It wasn't easy, but I enjoyed the challenge and realized there were many possibilities for me. I began to view my illness and my capabilities differently.
It may appear strange from the outside, but my heart and my entire soul identify with this place. I received guidance and training by people full of love and patience which I cannot renounce. Here one can realize one's potential without fear. The organization offers love and unconditional giving. It encourages people to fulfill themselves. It offers skills and qualities that will stay with me my whole life.
Note: Approximately 6 months ago, Shikum Acher assisted Irena in integrating into the mainstream workforce. She now works as an apprentice to a carpenter and earns an adequate salary.
Career Assistance
Education
Israel
Self Esteem
Special Needs
We are always happy to receive volunteers who want to come and help out at our factory, even on a one-time basis. In addition, we are planning on expanding the sale of our products to include international locations and we would be very happy to find volunteers who are interested in marketing our products in their cities/communities or youth who are interested in selling the products at their schools, synagogues, youth groups, etc. Expanding our sales to international locations will enable us to increase the number of program participants, thereby providing additional adults with mental disorders with the opportunity to acquire a profitable profession and ultimately integrate into the workforce.
Name:Michal Topaz
Title:Director
Address:P.O. Box 16616, Tel Aviv, Israel
Telephone:972-3-922-8743
Email:topaz.michal@gmail.com
Website:www.shikumacher.org.il