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. 

My Brother’s Keeper International is partnering with the Academy to build an emergency and second stage housing compound for Academy graduates on active duty and IDF veterans. This initiative represents a continuum of care providing housing, mentorship and case management services for Academy alumni who have completed their IDF service but need help transitioning to civilian life and applying for college, trade school or university. A portion of the compound will be dedicated for emergency housing for teens who have been incarcerated. Teens referred by the Ministry of Welfare will be assessed and placed in a preliminary recovery group and be eligible for the next open enrollment in the Academy. The estimated cost of MBKI’s partnership is $80,000. 

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

In times of war and national crisis in Israel, MBKI has been called upon to lend a strong hand. First Responders Assistance is a program designed to mobilize MBKI’s supporters to provide critical life saving equipment to the civilian organizations and first responders in the communities throughout Israel that we operate our educational programs.

MBKI partnered with The City of Sderot, the Sha’ar HaNegev Regional Council, One Israel Fund, Hatzalah Yehuda and Shomron and local first responder teams. MBKI Volunteers and donors in the US have supported our collaborative projects during Operation Cast Lead (2008-2009), Operation Protective Edge (2014) and the current wave of terrorism (2015- ).