Jchoice.Org

Our programs seek to meet the needs of the impoverished of Israel in a holistic manner. At the After School Activity Centers, we seek to address the entirety of the child's need. We strive to fill the gaps in their physical, mental, and emotional needs. Aside from offering a hot meal, we help the children maintain their health by offering sporting activities and plenty of outside time, so that they have the opportunities to play and grow. To meet their mental needs, the After School Activity Center Staff helps them with their homework and offers additional enriching activities, such as computer lessons and music programming. Finally, to support each child's emotional needs we offer therapeutic programming to each child that needs it. All the students are assessed by a certified social worker/ psychologist upon intake. Treatment
methodologies include animal therapy, arts therapy, garden therapy and shiatsu.

Finally, in order to creates a wide network of continuing support which remains with the child as s/he develops, the Jaffa Institute offers adult programming to families in need in our service area. Our food Distribution Center sends out over 700 boxes of food to impoverished families every month. Our vocational training program, Welfare to Wellbeing has aided dozens of women just in the past few years to become empowered, find gainful employment, and break
the cycle of poverty for themselves and their families.

The staff of our After School Activity Centers (or moadoniot) recognizes that one of reasons why these disadvantaged children are at high risk of failing is because they are hungry and malnourished; their families simply do not have enough money to feed them adequately. As a consequence the children are unable to focus on their schoolwork and do not achieve their full
academic potential. The Hot Meal Program’s main goal is to ensure that the children in our care receive enough nourishment to be healthy, focus on their school work, and build emotional, mental, and physical strength.

The effectiveness of the hot lunch component of the program is analyzed by examining:
1. The nutritional content of the food – do the meals deliver at least 30% of a child's recommended daily allowance of nutrients? The menu for the hot lunch program is evaluated prior to each school year by a registered dietician. Each meal contains at least on serving of a grain/bread, a fruit/vegetable, and a protein/meat.
2. How well the students like their meal – if the meals are not consumed or only half eaten, no benefits are derived. Consumption of the meals are observed by each group's counselor and assistant counselor and reported on to the Director of Programming.

The Jaffa Institute has proudly headed after school activity centers for almost thirty years. We have grown from a single site that welcomed fifteen impoverished children to multiple sites that, through a variety of programs, assists 4,000 individuals in their struggle to break free from the relentless cycle of poverty. We are well established in the field of offering social services like after school activity centers and food distribution programs and we have an excellent reputation in the community amongst those in need of our programs. Our established reputation also means that we have built and maintained excellent relationships with both local and national governmental offices, allowing us to more efficiently reach out to those most in need of our services.

As a result of our experience in the field, the Jaffa Institute understands that the needs and demands of poverty are constantly evolving, shifting form as the population changes and as shifting factors contribute to a dearth of resources within our service area. It is for this reason that, we, too, have taken on a flexible form, evolving as the needs we address evolve. Unlike some organizations which remain static in their programming, the Jaffa Institute has adapted new programs and phased out obsolete ones as different needs arise. Currently, for example, we are building a Residential Campus in Afula in Northern Israel which will eventually be home to 200 at risk girls who have suffered from physical, mental, and emotional abuse in their family homes and have therefore been removed by social services.

Alon first arrived at the Neve Ofer After-School Activity Center in September 2010. He is the eldest child in a family of four – a mother and three young children. Alon's father has remarried and lives far away. He is not in regular contact with his children and does not provide for them financially. Alon's mother struggles to hold on to long-term employment and is in and out of part-time jobs. Alon has suffered from problems in his emotional and social development, and used to display disruptive behaviors at school. He has had to repeat 1st grade twice and still
struggles to keep up with his peers due to the slow development of his reading and writing skills. Since he began to participate in the after-school activities his teachers have reported significant improvements in both his academic performance and his behavior at school. Alon's mother attributes these improvements to the hot meals he receives at Neve Ofer. Before
coming to the After-School Activity Centre, Alon regularly went a day without a nutritious meal. Indeed, it is apparent that the hot meal element, is most important thing to Alon at Neve Ofer; when he arrives at the Center he always looks enthusiastic and excited to eat. After hearing about his family's hardship, the staff at Neve Ofer packs up some of the left-overs each day to
send home with Alon for his family.

Jacob, aged 10

Jacob was born in Ethiopia and made the long journey to Israel with his family when he was only three years old. Sadly, when Jacob was seven years old his father died suddenly, leaving his mother to raise the family alone. The family now lives in Jaffa. Their apartment is very small and Jacob has to share his bedroom with three younger siblings. Unfortunately, Jacob's mother suffers from chronic health issues and had to give up her job in 2010. She had already struggled to feed her large family when she was receiving a salary; now that the family are dependant upon benefits, they can barely survive. Each day, when Jacob arrives at the Pahad Yitzhak after-school activity center, he is hungry. Often he has not eaten anything since the previous evening. He is always preoccupied with food and even if he has had enough to eat, he worries about whether the rest of his family is
hungry. At the age of ten, Jacob feels responsible for the wellbeing of his whole family. Despite his worries, the Pahad Yitzhak After-School Activity Center is a place where Jacob can fill his stomach with a hot nutritious meal and then spend the afternoon participating in fun educational activities appropriate for a child of his age. Prior to participating in the after-school activities, Jacob was struggling at school. Indeed, although his teachers believed Jacob had the potential to excel in his schoolwork, often he seemed very tired and incapable of concentrating
on the classroom's activities. However, since Jacob began attending Pahad Yitzhak, his teachers have noted a significant improvement in his schoolwork. Although he is still occasionally withdrawn and preoccupied, his grades are steadily improving and he now contributes in class.

Teens and Preteens can become part of the Jaffa Institute family from home too! They can help raise awareness of the 1.6 million people in Israel who are living without the basic necessities. They can support the two out of every five children who need their help by organizing fundraisers. In the past, students have held book sales, bake sales, dinners, and more!Teens have baked challah and sold it to support our End to Hunger programs (End Hunger with Hallah), collected used books and toys to support children in our residential homes, and fund the purchase of games at our After School Activity Centers, and more! The sky is the limit! Formore ideas, contact Youth4Youth Coordinator, Chantal Jacobs, Chantal@jaffainst.co.il.