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Home-Bound and Petrified, JDC is a Lifeline for Avraham
In the background, the low drone of an air-raid siren grows louder. Gila, Director of the Day Care Center for the Elderly in Karmiel, must cut her phone conversation short and seek shelter. This scene repeats itself nearly every day. In the past few weeks, scores of katyusha rockets have fallen in Karmiel, and residents are constantly on alert for the droning sirens, after which they have less than a minute to find shelter. Many have fled their homes, traveling south, out of the missiles' range, but for Gila flight is not an option. As Director of one of Karmiel's two Day Care Centers for the Elderly, she is determined to remain in Karmiel, caring for the city's elderly residents, many of whom have nowhere else to go.
Two weeks ago, Gila received a phone call from Avraham, a frequent Day Care Center visitor before the war. Avraham was in a panic. His caretaker, who had been with him for eight years, had fled when the Katyushas began to fall, leaving Avraham, who cannot travel on his own even without the constant threat of missile attacks, to fend for himself. His voice shaking with fear, he told Gila that he had no food and no means of support. Gila immediately jumped in a cab and ran to the supermarket. She filled Avraham's fridge and cleaned his house, calming and assuring him that there were still people in Karmiel to look out for him. Now Avraham is visited daily by Day Care Center staff and volunteers. The Day Care Centers officially closed by order of the Home Front Command, who want residents off the street and in protected areas, now serve as command centers for Gila and 16 of the men and women who have remained in Karmiel to help. Many of the centers' usual staff has left the city and Gila relies on volunteers to help her distribute food, medications and emotional support to the Day Care Center clients. "Some of the seniors have gone into bomb shelters but most of them are left in their unprotected homes because they can't go anywhere else, they can't make it to the shelter in time, or they are uncomfortable in the shelters, many of which lack mattresses or even toilets. So our work, which used to be done in the Day Care Center, has now turned in to a series of house calls. We bring food, we run errands for them, help them shower, clean their apartment," Gila explains. "We live from siren to siren, rocket to rocket," Gila says,"Between each alert we run out to buy food and deliver meals to the housebound elderly. Yesterday, I was in the car with a volunteer, on our way to deliver food, when the siren went off. Luckily, the block we were on had a bomb shelter so we jumped out of the car and ran to the shelter. When the alarm ended, we got back in the car to make our next delivery. We'd barely left the neighborhood when the siren rang again — this time we were caught in an open area. Shaking, we raced back to the Day Care Center, hoping the missile wouldn't hit our car." By bringing food and medication and taking time to speak with their elderly clients, the Day Care Center staff and volunteers are literally helping to keep these seniors alive. "They're isolated and petrified," says Gila, "When they see us at the door, their faces light up, they hug us, crying in gratitude. It breaks your heart, and you know that despite the fact that it's incredibly frightening to be in Karmiel right now; when you see their faces, you know that nothing will stop you from doing this work, even if it means risking your own life. You know if you're not there for them, there is no-one else. We can't leave them." August 2006 |
