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From New York to Israel: Ashalim Pilots a New Youth-at-Risk Program
Ashalim, JDC's partnership with the Government of Israel and UJA-Federation of New York which focuses on the daunting problems facing children and youth-at-risk in Israel, has developed and piloted over 300 programs throughout the country.
One of the advantages of this three-way collaboration is that Israeli professionals in the areas of social work, psychology and education often share best practices with their counterparts in New York. Building on this collaboration, Ashalim is adding yet another initiative to its roster—the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE). The NFTE program began in New York in 1987 with the goal of helping young people from low-income communities build hard skills and unlock their entrepreneurial creativity. To date, NFTE has trained over 150,000 youth and 3,700 teachers in America and around the world. Now Ashalim is adapting the NFTE model to reflect the context and realities of Israeli society. The program in Israel will also focus on providing youth with the skills they require to be independent, functioning adults. To carry out the initiative, Ashalim has established partnerships with The International Bank; Matan (Israel's United Way); the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor; the Ministry of Welfare and the Ministry of Education. Ashalim is currently evaluating the adaptability of the American model by piloting the program in five schools in Israel, in cooperation with the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor. The program in Israel will focus on offering business management classes in school, the training of teachers and other education professionals, as well as the introduction of "Biz Camps," where students will receive intense training in entrepreneurship. The first camp was held in the middle of January in Beit Shean. January 2007 |
