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 INTERVIEW
Ahava Village for Children & Youth holds a special place in the heart of Bnai Zion. Nestled in a quiet residential area of the northern town of Kiryat Bialik, Ahava is a center for children ages six to eighteen coming from high-risk home situations. Comprised of fifteen apartments, educational facilities and leisure areas, the campus is home to two hundred children, who receive personalized care, support and training. The children live in apartments with foster parents who provide a loving and family-oriented environment, and they attend school at the village.
Designed to help children overcome the stresses of a severely dysfunctional background, Ahava offers a variety of activities and therapies. The village plays a leading role in integrating these children into Israeli society to be useful citizens leading fulfilling lives – and on a very limited budget.
In 1938, with the Holocaust imminent, Ahava was moved to Israel. The shelter came to mean the difference between survival and destruction for the last group of 50 European children who had legal papers for entrance to Palestine.
Since then, Ahava has become synonymous with safety and refuge for children in need. It has cared for the young survivors of the Holocaust, refugees, and children of families suffering war casualties. Currently Ahava tends mainly to children who have been stung by war, terror, violence, abuse, crime or addiction. Ahava's goal of saving children has never wavered in its more than 75 years of existence.
The Ahava Children and Youth Village in northern Israel cares for over 200 children in a nurturing atmosphere providing physical and emotional stability.
In 1991, Ahava adopted a revolutionary Family Care System which models a real family environment. The residents live in apartments consisting of 16 children in a 4-bedroom unit, supervised by a "foster family" who is there to act as surrogate parents. Each child has a responsibility to the "family unit" such as meal preparation, cleaning, laundry, etc. On a weekly basis the residents get together to celebrate shabbat in the new social hall funded by Bnai Zion. This system assures that children are nurtured to their maximum potential.
Ahava operates mainly on donations from individuals and organizations and constantly needs funds to enhance its facility to allow for more advanced educational and therapeutic capabilities.
This social hall had been unusuable for a long time and the children had no place for gathering to celebrate holidays and other occasions. With the modernized new facility the children of Ahava have the collective opportunity to experience bonding and warmth while celebrating holidays and other festivities there.
In need of funds to upgrade the facilities, finish the construction of the dining hall, establish an emergency intervention center, and for many other projects, Ahava appreciates all the help it can get. Many of its outstanding programs are thanks to generous donor support. Your gift means that a disadvantaged child will be able to get beyond a troubled past and have a better chance at a meaningful, happy life.
A new residential building has just been constructed (2008) with apartments for former Ahava residents who are now serving in Israel’s military. These apartments are reserved for soldiers, national service persons and demobilized soldiers who do not have families to return to, for whom Ahava staff serve as mentors and support, so that these young adults can have a warm and welcoming home – whether on leave or post-service.
Soldiers and service members are entitled to periodic home visits, but those who were raised at Ahava do not always have family to welcome them. With these apartments they have a relaxing and familiar environment to come home to, with the encouragement of caring Ahava staff to help them during holidays, weekends and other times when soldiers are given leave.
Ahava staff also provide ongoing phone support for these soldiers to call in whenever they need an understanding ear or help moving forward. This is a very significant, specialized program for which funds are always needed. The military provides basic provisions, of course, but soldiers can always benefit from these additional gift items: a heavy winter coat, sneakers (so that they can change out of their heavy military-issue boots), sunglasses, a thick knitted scarf and hat, sunblock, mosquito repellant, and a high-quality sleeping bag.
Established at this location in 1935, many of the buildings are now too small and can no longer serve the needs of Ahava’s twenty-first century expanding population. New buildings must be constructed to house a Cultural and Social Activities Center that will include rooms for instructional courses, clubs, workshops, and group social activities, and a Treatment Center that will include all the social, psychological and psychiatric treatment services that are so essential to Ahava’s program. Also envisioned is completion of the dining hall.
A new emergency shelter to provide immediate care for children removed from traumatic situations, with lodging for social workers and therapists is a big priority. Plans have been readied for such a center but with limited government funding, Ahava needs contributions to speed the process and make the emergency shelter a reality.
Operating on a very limited budget from the Ministry of Education, Ahava relies on generous donor support.
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