- Israel

A Challenge to Survive Each Day for Haifa's Disabled Population

Nira, the social worker for Haifa's Supportive Community for the Disabled, is overwhelmed. She was just beginning to forge connections with the 20 members of the newly established Supportive Community when war broke out. All of a sudden, instead of helping Haifa's disabled residents maintain a normal life, Nira found herself helping them to merely survive.

The Supportive Community for the Disabled was only in its fourth month of operation when the rocket attacks began and has been forced to grow up quickly, taking a leading role in helping Haifa's disabled population survive the war. The neighborhoods in which the Supportive Community operates have suffered numerous attacks and near-misses, and the community members, who suffer from a wide range of physical and developmental disabilities, are unable to care for themselves in this crisis situation. In addition to working with the community's established members, Nira and her co-workers — who include Nissim, the Community "Father" — have begun recruiting new members as well, trying to reach as large a section of Haifa's disabled population as possible.

Each story Nira tells is heart-rending. There is the family with two blind daughters and an elderly mother who have no bomb shelter and no protected room. Each time the siren sounds they lie on the floor and pray for the madness to end. Or the immigrant from Russia for whom the current situation triggers flashbacks to a terrorist attack she was caught in when she first moved to the country. She can no longer sleep without heavy medication and has asked that Nira call her each night and lie to her, telling her that the war is over, that she can relax and go to sleep.

"I have one client whose caretaker recently left Haifa," Nira recalls. "Left alone in her home, my client fell and is now even more incapacitated than she was before. I tried to arrange for her to leave the city, to get a respite from the constant rocket bombardments, but she refuses to leave. She cares for a number of cats and she is adamant that she can't leave them."

Nira spends her working hours making sure that situations like these are remedied as quickly as possible. Each week she tracks down all of the Supportive Community's members, making sure they are safe and that they have sufficient food and medication. She tries to arrange for field trips and respites, to get the Supportive Community members out of the city as often as possible. In addition, Nira has arranged for a group of Russian speakers to be in constant contact with the community's many new immigrants who, in addition to their disabilities, face the additional challenge of a language barrier, leaving them even more isolated than their Israeli counterparts.

Nira's top priority, though, is making sure that the community members have access to food and medication. "I need to find volunteers to take the community members shopping or bring them food," she explains. "There is no way for them to leave their houses on their own. Many are blind or deaf or suffer from developmental disabilities. There is no real public transportation in Haifa anymore and we can't risk having our clients outside when the warning siren sounds. They might not hear the siren or they may not make it to a shelter in time."

August 2006