The Academy is a therapeutic residential rehabilitation program for at-risk teens from all over Israel who struggle with juvenile delinquency, drug and alcohol addiction and homelessness. Located in the remote Jordan Valley village of Gadi, 30 teens participate in a year long program that combines individual and group therapy with physical fitness, agriculture, animal husbandry and education. The goal of the Academy is to empower the teen graduates to maintain their sobriety, return to the normative path of induction into the Israel Defense Forces or National Service, strengthen their Jewish identity and become productive citizens in Israel’s society. For the participants, this is literally the last stop before they fall through the cracks of Israeli society. 

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My Brother’s Keeper International is partnering with the Academy to build an air conditioned multi-purpose building that will house counseling rooms, classrooms, ceremonies and Krav Maga training. This project will be the largest space on the campus designed for its versatility and durability in the challenging environment of the Jordan Valley. Once we have all the funds raised the teen participants will come alongside all the trades that are hired to complete the project and help. To date, the concrete foundation and metal frame has already been constructed.

Cost: $40,000
Funds raised to date: $12,000

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MBKI is continuing our long–standing partnership with the special education department of the Kiryat Arba/Hebron municipality. Our mission is to remove as many obstacles as we can from the path of educators by exploring creative and innovative ways that will help them reach and teach their kindergarten students. Many people do not know that special education throughout Israel did not stop during the three nationwide COVID lockdowns. However, the economic impact on families, increasing anxiety and overall shift in how life is lived has nonetheless affected children with special needs. Shira T, one of our partner educators, recently wrote MBKI co-founder Dov Gelman the following:

“Dov, I want to share with you what happened in my kindergarten this year.  ***

Already at the beginning of the year I saw that the group of children is very complex and each child has separate and different difficulties from the other children.

It was hard to reach them. Each in his own world. One with communication difficulties, another with selective mutism and another with significant anxieties..and more. I was looking for a way to get to their heart, to their brain. I was looking for a way to open their senses. 

And I got it! Music !!

As soon as I started teaching them everything through music – I suddenly saw eye contact, body reactions,

The children started to express themselves – and it was very exciting !!!

We set up a small corner in the garden with lots of music

And I also built a music corner out of wood so that the music will also be in the yard and only inside the garden. (I will send you pictures)”

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We want to create Magical Music Spaces in Shira’s kindergarten and use her space as a model for special needs kindergartens around the country. 

Help us help Shira unlock the children with music. Thank you so much for your consideration.

We offer a Kindergarten Adoption Program that empowers educators to care for and teach their children while being fully resourced.

THE NEED

Israeli kindergartens operate separately from local municipal elementary schools. The kindergartens MBKI partners with are in low income neighborhoods or rural villages. The majority of the children come from single parent homes. As a result of their socioeconomic situation, our kindergartens are underfunded and are unable to access resources.

THE SOLUTION

Our Kindergarten Adoption Program pairs inner-city and rural kindergartens with donors in the US and Europe. Each school year MBKI’s staff conducts needs assessments with our partner kindergarten educators to identify their program goals, access to educational resources and determine financial needs.

MBKI provides supplemental budgets to our partner kindergartens that cover the costs of subsidized lunches, educational equipment, books, supplies, toys, field trips, enrichment classes and infrastructure improvement.

HOW IT WORKS

Donors are paired with partner kindergartens throughout the course of an academic school year. Your $4,000 donation is divided into quarterly payments and distributed to the educators based on the action plan designed by MBKI field staff. Donors have the ability to communicate with their adopted kindergarten and arrange a visit during the school year.

MBKI field staff designs a uniquely tailored action plan for every kindergarten, oversees the distribution of the donation, conducts fiscal compliance inspections, provides logistical support and acts as the liaison with the donor in all forms of communication.

“Now is the time to invest our best efforts in the lives of the children. Now-when they are starting to bloom.”

Karen Arosti ~ Principal Zalman Aran Elementary School, Jerusalem