With two-thirds of Israel’s population living within the firing zone of rockets launched from Gaza, JDC continues its emergency response to the escalating attacks.
We deployed our Emergency Response Team immediately and are on the ground right now, ensuring the well-being of the most vulnerable Israelis under fire—people with disabilities, the elderly, children at risk, and others.
Leveraging existing JDC programs as platforms for implementing critical assistance, we’re providing hot meals to homebound elderly, caring for displaced families, and extending a lifeline to people with disabilities in real time.
JDC IN ACTION:
JDC’s current response to the crisis includes:
- Deploying emergency teams of social workers, together with the Ministry of Welfare, to reach and provide emotional and physical support to some 50,000 elderly and people with disabilities.
- Mobilizing and deploying thousands of trained volunteers to operate activities for children confined to bomb shelters and create arts and crafts kits and game activities; and making its AMEN volunteers available to provide support to the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI) Absorption Centers in the South.
- Packing and distributing emergency kits for the elderly and people with disabilities that include a flashlight, transistor radio, batteries, a first aid kit, and bottled water.
- Supplying portable toilets for people with severe disabilities who may otherwise be limited in places where they can take shelter from rocket fire (because many bomb shelters are not accessible and/or may not have accessible toilets; nor may the home of family, friends, or neighbors where they are staying during the crisis).
- Preparing our network of children’s post trauma programs to be immediately operational once schools and community centers have reopened. Parents are already utilizing the skills from JDC’s "Red Alert Song" and Hibuki doll programs during and after siren alerts, at home, and in shelters.
- Providing urgent crisis-related information and how-to videos for the Israeli public in the emergency zones on JDC’s Israeli Facebook page, including:
- Videos and tip sheets on how to handle children’s anxiety and trauma
- Information for people with disabilities and those helping them in times of emergency
- Instructions for how elderly Israelis can cope or can be assisted during the crisis
JDC is working closely with Israel’s Ministries of Social Affairs and Social Welfare, Education and Health, the Home Front Command, and the National Emergency Network, as always during times of crisis. And we are coordinating with our funding partners, including the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) and the Federation system, whose swift action and generosity are helping us address the most pressing needs in the emergency zones.
JDC’s emergency response in Israel is based on expertise and programmatic initiatives developed during the second intifada, the Second Lebanon War, and the Carmel Fires disaster. Our response ensures that support and assistance can be delivered quickly and effectively.
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