Jchoice.Org

 Our main activity in our organization is activating dance classes for underprivileged girls in Israel. In practice, every class accurse once a week and is instructed by a professional and certified dance teacher. In addition to a dance teacher, every class is overseen by a Class Coordinator, who is  responsible for maintaining discipline within the class,  providing  emotional support for  the girls,  conducting individual conversations with each and for having group discussion that focus on dreams, self-esteem and self- valuation etc. on a monthly basis.

Our dance teachers are professional teachers and are treating these classes like each and every one of their classes and therefore, they get paid for the classes. We are looking for funding that will allow us to pay the salary of our teachers in 6 of our places. This funding will allow us to operate those classes and let the girls continue the process they started this year and continue developing their self-esteem.

 Just Want to Dance is an Israeli non profit that was established in February 2019 by Ofrie Feldman, an 11^th grader in Pelech school in Jerusalem. The project  was established in order to allow underprivileged girls from all over the country to participate in extracurricular classes, something that they can't usually afford and therefore don't get to experience and in order to help those girls appreciate themselves and see what they are capable of. In February 2020 the project became a registered Israeli non profit(Amuta).

This year we opened our activities in 4 Community Centers in Jerusalem. in addition to our work with these 4 Community Centers we have dance classes in 5 Youth Centers belonging to Afikim Association -  a non for profit organization that operates Afternoon Youth Centers children at risk. We also opened another dance class in a boarding school for youth at risk in Afula and in a boarding school for girls at risk in Bnei Brak. 

 Just Want to Dance is an Israeli non profit that was established in February 2019 by Ofrie Feldman, an 11^th grader in Pelech school in Jerusalem. The project  was established in order to allow underprivileged girls from all over the country to participate in extracurricular classes, something that they can't usually afford and therefore don't get to experience and in order to help those girls appreciate themselves and see what they are capable of. In February 2020 the project became a registered Israeli non profit(Amuta).

This year we opened our activities in 4 Community Centers in Jerusalem. in addition to our work with these 4 Community Centers we have dance classes in 5 Youth Centers belonging to Afikim Association -  a non for profit organization that operates Afternoon Youth Centers children at risk. We also opened another dance class in a boarding school for youth at risk in Afula and in a boarding school for girls at risk in Bnei Brak. 

Name of Organization:Just Want to Dance
Number of Paid Staff:0
Number of Volunteers:3
Total Organizational Expenses:$21,800
% of Organizational Overhead Expenses:23%

 Our organization is distinct and unique because it approaches all of the parts of the Israeli society. Most of the places and organizations that use the arts as an educational tool, usually limit themselves to certain parts of the society. Most places that use dance as an educational and therapeutic tool use it on girls from the secular sector. However, we choose to use this art as a tool with girls from the ultra-orthodox, orthodox and secular sector. We have approximately 50 girls from the ultra-orthodox sector and about 20 more from the orthodox sector.

As well as the religious diversity we have in our program, we also have classes for girls that just made Alliah from Ethiopia and France. Most of the places that use the arts as an educational and therapeutic tool believe that the language is a key point in order to be able to have a process. While all that is true, we, on the other hand, believe that dance is a language that doesn't require any words and therefore, we have a class with girls from Ethiopia that don't speak Hebrew and with girls from France that speak a little bit of Hebrew. 

 One of our main success stories is our work with the group of girls that made Alliah this year, at the ages of 16-17, from Ethiopia. Like I mentioned before, the girls didn't know any Hebrew when they came at the beginning of the year. Therefore, the dance instructor of that group decided to learn and read about the Ethiopian culture and the Amharic language in order to teach them African and Ethiopian dances and make them feel a little bit at home in this new and strange country.

 That act made the girls trust the teacher, appreciate her and thank her for making that effort to make them feel welcomed and at home and therefore, they came to every class and participated in all of the activities that were about self-esteem and so. By the end of the year the girls have learned enough Hebrew in order to thank their teacher for making them feel welcome and for making them believe that they can do anything.

Self Esteem

 Youth can get involved by helping our girls with their homework. We provide the girls free dance classes since they can't afford to pay for them. As well as not being able to afford dance classes, the girls can't afford help with homework and their parents don't have the time to dedicate to help them and sometimes they don't know the language and therefore can't help, even if they have the time. Youth can assist the girls with their homework before or after the classes.

Another way youth can get involved in our organization is by offering babysitting services. One of the main reasons the girls can't come to our dance classes is that they have to babysit their younger siblings because their parents are at work. The girls, usually around the ages 9-10, have to give up fun activities that are part of being a child in order to babysit their brothers. If youth would babysit their brothers just for one hour a week during the time of the dance class, the girls would have the opportunity to feel like "normal" girls and enjoy their childhood.

Name:Ofrie Feldman
Title:Acting CEO
Address:Zevulon 3, Baka, 9346803, Jerusalem
Telephone:0509019334
Email:ofrief@gmail.com
Website:https://justwanttodance.wixsite.com/mysite