BEIT RESHET
Center for Youth at Risk and Shelter
Avraham Shapira St. 18, Ashdod
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A Support System for Troubled Teens
We would like to call your attention to the pressing financial needs of the Beit Reshet rehabilitation center for at risk teenagers in Ashdod, Israel. Established in 1999 under the auspices of Ashdod ’s Department of Welfare, the center serves a population of boys and girls, ages 13-18, many of whom are school
dropouts or runaways from struggling new immigrant and single-parent families ill-equipped to support their children. The main goal of Beit Reshet is to prevent or reduce the teens’ abnormal social behavior and return them to their schools and families better able to cope with the stresses of daily life.
Beit Reshet’s programs include short-term and long-term treatment services, crisis intervention, emergency temporary shelter and parent-teen counseling. The institution is supervised by Ulpanat Dolev, a school for at-risk teen girls near Modiin.
Our short-term program (offered in three- to six-month cycles) aids some 40 high school dropouts at a time. The teens receive individual, family and community treatment, a psychosocial diagnosis and crisis intervention. The teenagers also take part in a series of therapy sessions, including anger management, violence prevention and self-help. The rehabilitation process also encompasses classes in academic subjects, sports activities, arts enrichment and computer training. One of Beit Reshet’s more recent innovative offerings is its Animal Assisted Therapy Program; research has shown that interaction with animals, which are more predictable, less complex and quicker to relate than humans, can lower anxiety levels and provide a sense of safety.
Beit Reshet also operates a long-term treatment center three afternoons a week for some 50 to 100 Ashdod teens, some who have been referred to the center because of various drug, law-breaking and other antisocial activities.
Much has been accomplished at Beit Reshet, but much more could be done to extend and enhance our programs for Ashdod’s at-risk youths with additional funding. For example, $2,200 would pay for the enrollment of an additional 40 youths in our proven five-month animal therapy program—20 weekly workshops, 90 minutes each.
Your help would be greatly appreciated.
Sincerely,
Eran Zer, Manager, Beit Reshet
Ruby Fallach, Executive Director, Ulpanat Dolev
Mimi Tsadok, Director of Development, Ulpanat Dolev
Tax-deductible contributions can be mailed to One Israel Fund, 1175 West Broadway, Suite 10, Hewlett, N.Y. 11557. Checks should be made payable to One Israel Fund with “Ulpanat Dolev-Beit Reshet Ashdod” written on the memo line.