Dear friends and supporters,
Eliav sits strategically in Israel's southern foothills, 800 meters from the security barrier with the West Bank / Judea & Samaria and less than 40 kilometers from the Gaza Strip. We number almost 1,000 people, of whom over 700 are children, in addition to several refugee families fleeing the conflict.
Thanks to your help and support, we have spent the past four months increasing our physical security by better equipping our civil defense guard, acquiring medical supplies and firefighting training, upgrading our security fence and integrating reliable communications equipment.
However, this investment comes to naught if the homefront is unable to function under the stress of war. Now comes the time to secure our minds and souls and build hosen, or resilience.
Nearly half of the families living in Eliav still have one parent called up to the IDF reserves, away from home for weeks at a time with little or no communication. Due to much-increased use, we have outgrown our library, one of the few public spaces located close to a bomb shelter. Our therapeutic petting zoo will, unfortunately, close for the winter and the protected spaces in our day care--now used throughout the day--lack child-friendly equipment and decoration. Finally, our teenagers need a safe space to simply hang out, secure from rocket attack.
Despite our struggle to find a new normal in the midst of a terrible war, we have a plan to bolster our resilience. We made space to expand our library and have drawn up a beautiful work plan. With local youth babysitting, we will send the wives of reserve soldiers to a relaxation workshop to give them strength and fortify their resilience. A series of age-appropriate plays will help children cope with their trauma and give context to their struggles, while adult workshops will teach parents how to better support their families and themselves. We will winterize our petting zoo for animal therapy to continue throughout the winter and place a bomb shelter adjacent to our youth club to provide our teens both freedom and safety.
We can only get so far ourselves and we ask you to help us build resiliency as we rebuild our country and our lives after such a tragedy. A simple, tax-deductible donation to Eliav will enable us to complete these important projects and will ensure that both our bodies and our souls are protected for the difficult period ahead.
We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the will and means to help our community in this dire time of need. In our hour of hardship and despair, your contribution is a tremendous voice of support and confidence in Israel and the Jewish people.
May we know better days and peaceful times. Thank you!
