ELI's New West Coast Chairs

ELI is thrilled to announce that Kent Newton and Bill Slaton of Carmichael California have decided to be ELI's West Coast Chairs. We are grateful for their support and we know that their involvement will make a huge difference for ELI. We’d like to take a moment to introduce Kent and Bill to our many friends around the United States.

Kent & Bill have been involved in charitable and non-profit work as long as they have been together. They met in Sacramento in 1981. She was on the Board of a local neighborhood association. He was President of the Board of the local PBS affiliate. The two non-profits wanted to work out a business arrangement that would be beneficial to both. That venture did not last more than a few years but Kent & Bill are celebrating 25 years of marriage this year and continue their involvement in philanthropy.

While on the neighborhood association board, Kent worked in real estate. Bill worked for IBM. A few years after Bill established himself in a technology-financing venture, Kent joined the business. By the time their two children, Richard & Ariel, were in the picture, Bill had joined the board of Congregation B’nai Israel. As the kids grew, Kent served on the board of the local Jewish day school while Bill moved on to the Jewish Federation Board where he eventually served three terms as President. Meanwhile, Kent joined the synagogue board. Most recently, Bill & Kent, along with two other couples, co-chaired a major capital campaign, which has resulted in a beautiful sanctuary.

Kent currently serves on the board of the Sacramento Theatre Company and is a past Co-Chair of the Career Horizons program at Rio Americano High School. Bill has served in various capacities at other county-appointed and volunteer community organizations, including the Sacramento Area Equal Opportunity Council, Weave Business Advisory Board, volunteer and supporter of HOSTS (Helping One Student to Succeed) Tutoring Program and Point West Rotary. In 2002, Bill was elected to public office
in Sacramento as a Director of theSacramento Municipal Utility District, which provides electrical service to a population of 1.5 million. He was recently appointed to the policy-making council of the American Public Power Association..

Several years ago, Bill & Kent were introduced to Hanita and ELI. They became regular donors and began thinking of how else they could provide support. Last fall, while in Israel, they had the opportunity to see first-hand what ELI accomplishes with children and their families. They are very excited about the opportunity to work with ELI.



Recent Gifts…Thank You

Auerbach Family Foundation
Beit David Highland
Lakes Shul, Inc.
Belz Foundation
Gerry & Burt Belzer Fund
Lewis Berlin-The Derech Elokim Fund for Jewish Values
Aaron & Marie Blackman Foundation
Jack Chester Foundation
CMS Endowment Foundation
Derech Elokim Fund
Gottstein Family Foundation
Myer & Rosaline Feinstein Foundation
Phoebe & Herman Karpel Foundation
Zanvyl & Isabelle Krieger Fund
Joseph Meyerhoff Fund
Mizrachi Family Charitable Fund
NYC-UJA Federation/ Bonim Atid
Irving & Varda Rabin Philanthropic Fund
Myra Reinhard Family Foundation
Slaton/Newton Philanthropic Fund
Smukler/Lasch Family Trust
Ben Teitel Charitable Trust
Jewish Federation of Greater Washington
Viterbi Family Foundation of the Jewish Community Foundation of San Diego

Carmella Abraham, M.D.
Nedda & Ken Altschuld,
Smokey Oil, LLC
Lior Arussy
Anne & Lionel Bercovitch
Louis Berlin
Bruce & Sara Berger
Eddie Blanco
Lance Cohen
Renee Cohen
Yoav and Michal Cohen
Denise Davis
Alan Dworkin
Paula Eiblum
Lizabeth Ehrenhaus
Richmond Eshaghoff
Elizabeth Feldman
David Fishman
Murray Foss
Matan Friedman
Stanley Ganer
Beth Galinsky
Ruth Gerstenhaber
Lillian and Ernest Glickman
Harold & Alisa Goldberg
Ethan Goldstine
Orly Halevy
Gilbert Henoch
Rachel Hersch
Judith Inguagiato
Ilana & Mitchell Kahn
Alice & Jacob Klein
Harold Krivins
J. Paul Levine
Jeff Levis
Victor Levis
Jack Lifshitz
Tammy Mandel
Jonathan Mayers

Robert Merlin
Nina Miner
Eve & Jim Orlow
Penny Parker
Lenore Richter
Marcella Kanfer Rolnick
David Rosenberg
Elliott Rotman
James Rudolph
Gail Ruth
Zmira Sabbah
Margot Schwartz
Arthur and Barbara Sheer
Adina Shoulson
Abigail & Richard Simkus
Ilse Stamm
Arnold Stanley
Rabbi Jay & Melissa Stein
Sheldon Steinberg
Eli Sterngass
H. Kay Stewart
Roselyne Swig
Jane Swotes
Jeffrey & Helene Tigay
Michelle Waldinger
Rita Werner
Jodie Wright
Violet Zeitlin
Jennifer & Alan Zwiebel

 

The Safe House

Ron, a 5 year old boy, was diagnosed with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyper-activity Disorder.) The malady manifests itself in an inability to concentrate and nearly constant restlessness. His mother Ruth, a Russian immigrant and single mother, could no longer cope with the chaos in their lives and after what seemed like endless attempts at finding a solution, Ruth tied Ron to a heavy piece of furniture. Ron could not move. When the social worker finally arrived three months later, Ron’s body was covered with wounds and his spirit was shattered. Four months in Hanita Zimrin

Eli's shelter were enough to heal his body and begin repairing his broken spirit but what now? The option of a residential care facility is problematic due to shortage of available spaces and the concern that Ron will spend years wandering between institutions and various foster families. Terminating Ruth's parental rights is not justified in this instance. Ruth loves her son and wants to be a good mother however; she simply does not know how to cope with his ADHD. At the same time, sending Ron back home is out of the question since his safety is not assured.

Children like Ron are admitted by court order to ELI's emergency shelter (ELI House) located in the heart of Tel-Aviv under extreme circumstances when their lives are in danger. ELI House is an extraordinary facility which offers safety and protection, crisis intervention and diagnosis, while at the same time, it offers ELI’s therapists the opportunity to develop a long term treatment plan for the children.

While ELI is in fact able to alleviate the trauma for the overwhelming majority of the children who enter ELI house, occasionally there is no hope of rehabilitating their families. In these cases where parents are completely devoid of appropriate parenting skills, ELI directs its efforts towards termination of parental rights and towards giving the children new hope by finding parents who will adopt them.

In many cases however, there is hope for rehabilitating families, but only with appropriate treatment, and sufficient time. Children like Ron cannot be sent home because their homes are not safe for them. At the same time there is no justification for termination of parental rights, or for breaking up the family and banishing the child to years in either foster care or institutions. ELI and the children face a dilemma. There is no place the children can go; however, staying in the emergency shelter for an extended period of time is destructive for the child. In addition, their presence in the shelter could prevent another child who desperately needs the shelter from getting in.

ELI is proud to announce that the Viterbi Family Foundation of San Diego has granted $50,000 towards the establishment of a new Safe House for abused children and their families, the first of its kind in Israel. The Safe House will be a facility where ELI will integrate the protection of the child, with the therapeutic needs of the family, thereby continuing services of the shelter, with the ability to help improve family dynamics, with the ultimate goal of preparing the families to receive their children in a safe and healthy home.

The Safe House will be the children’s temporary home. They will go to school or kindergarten, and spend their leisure time in the Safe House, in addition to receiving therapy. But, unlike the traditional shelter, in the Safe House, the abused children’s parents will visit and stay with the children for several hours 3-4 days per week. The parents will spend time with their children, interact with them under supervision, benefit from psychological treatment, family therapy, training in parenting skills, and have the opportunity to practice and improve their new skills and techniques. In addition, when needed, ELI will involve other social agencies in the community in order to address other social and psychological needs.

The Safe House will keep families intact and save many thousands of dollars that would otherwise be spent on long term care facilities.

ELI would like to thank The Viterbi Family Foundation for their generous investment in ELI and these families.

For More Information on

ELI’s Safe House Initiative

Please contact Michael Hersch at mhersch@comcast.net,
or by phone at 215-923-2940.

w w w. E L I U S A . o r g

 

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American Friends of ELIn
Saul J. Freedman President
1009 Delene Rd.
Rydal, PA 19046
(215) 576 6611
sauljfreed@aol.com
www.eliusa.org (English)

Development office
Michael N. Hersch
307 W. George Street
Philadelphia, PA 19123
(215) 923 2940
mhersch@comcast.net

Hanita Zimrin, PhD
President of ELI
14 Ibn Gvirol St.
Tel-Aviv, Israel 64077
(011) 972 3 6091930
(215) 923 2940
zimrin@eli.org.il
www.eli.org.il (Hebrew)

ELI, the Israel Association

for child Protection,

works tirelessly to

and terror in the home,

stop the vicious cycle

of violence, and

give voice to the silent.

This newsletter is published
by the American Friends of ELI, the Israel Association
for Child Protection.


A Message from the
President,Saul Freedman

ELI and The Jewish Federations

Jewish Federations are volunteer driven organizations that exist in practically every Jewish community in America. The earliest Federations were founded over one hundred years ago for the purpose of pooling community funds in order to provide services for Jews in need. In the last half century, in addition to providing for local needs, Jewish Federations have allocated billions of dollars for programs and services in Israel.

I am pleased to be able to report that in recent years, ELI has developed and maintained strong relationships with a number of Jewish Federations around the United States.

We are grateful for the opportunity to work hand in hand with Jewish Communities across the United States toward our common goal of caring for Children in Israel.

As volunteers, you can be helpful to ELI by making connections at your local Jewish Federation. For more information, please contact me, or Michael Hersch at 215- 923-2940, or via email at mhersch@comcast.net

And once again, Thank you for Your Support

Saul Freedman, President American Friends of ELI

 

 

ELI and Internet
Safety

A Message From
Hanita Zimrin

Unfortunately, while it is wonderful tool for many things, the internet has opened our homes and exposed our children to a new threat. Recent studies have shown that one in five children is solicited on-line by sexual predators. Furthermore, one out of every thirty three children is seriously affected. ELI will protect these innocent children by initiating legislation that would declare on line predatory behavior a crime, and by empowering appropriate government and law enforcement agencies to enforce the new legislation. In addition, ELI will conduct an advocacy campaign to alert the public at large to this grave threat. ELI will also educate and inform children and their parents as to the potential dangers involved with using the internet.

This project will be governed by a steering committee representing the Knesset, Ministry of Justice, and the police as well as the media and Israel's high-tech industry. Parts of the project will be administered by teenagers themselves through student councils in their schools and youth movements.