Promoting Independence Among Israelis with Disabilities

Michele was 35 years old when complications during the birth of her fifth child paralyzed the lower half of her body. "From the beginning I was very concrete about dealing with the circumstances…I wouldn’t accept passivity," she shares. By the time she left rehabilitation six months later, nurses and doctors were sending newly disabled women to her for peer coaching. Now a mother of seven, Michele is the leading peer mentor for people with disabilities through the first Center for Independent Living (CIL) in Jerusalem, pioneered by local associations for the disabled in partnership with JDC.

"JDC is like a loving parent who felt our spirit, listened to our dreams, and is helping to make them a reality," shares Michele.

A resource center designed and operated by disabled individuals, the CIL is based on an American model and develops resources such as an emergency hotline, peer counseling on legal rights, and a database on employment services to help people with disabilities participate socially and professionally in Israeli society. Two highly successful centers currently operate in Jerusalem and Beersheba, with plans to add five additional facilities in the future: in Tel Aviv, Haifa, the north, and the south; and tailored to the Israeli Arab population.

May 2008