October 02, 2008

Neighbors Helping Neighbors

For most Israelis, life goes on fairly routinely since the end of the terror attacks that rained down upon the country for so long beginning in the year 2000. For the people of Sderot in the South, life is anything but routine or normal. Subjected to ongoing rocket attacks from Gaza, Sderot is a city in trauma. Originally settled by immigrants from North Africa, today the municipality of about 20,000 is home also to many from the FSU. Ongoing rocket attacks have left a population that almost universally suffers from PTSD. Anyone who has the economic means to leave has done so, while the remaining population has had to "make adjustments" in their daily lives.

We recently learned about a beautiful effort started by a number of Israelis who wanted to just do something to help the city’s residents. We were intrigued and upon further investigation were introduced to Yossi Cohen*, a private citizen who, along with family and friends wanted to help people in Sderot on a person-to-person level. As Yossi recently wrote to me:

Their (the group’s) principles are: direct contact with families and individuals who fall through the cracks of the social services; no publicity, no expenses or overhead costs, and pinpointing the needs with the help of local social workers and activists…."

This sounded very interesting and after several further exchanges with Yossi we learned about a young Ethiopian woman, C.W. who, as the divorced single parent of a young daughter, lived in Sderot with her mother. When Yossi and his friends met C.W. they were impressed by her earnestness and her strong desire to get an education (something her former husband would not allow) so that she could support her child and her mother in a meaningful way. Through the generosity of one individual, C.W.’s education and modest living expenses were underwritten and the group received regular updates on her progress in school. By strange happenstance, Yossi recently learned that C.W.’s apartment was in foreclosure due to circumstances related to actions taken by her former husband and over which she had absolutely no control. How could he and his group resolve this new problem which surely threatened the outcome of C.W.’s attempts to complete her education and become self-supporting? Through a series of phone calls and meetings with banks and attorneys, Yossi managed to get the bank to reduce the amount owed and with the help of others including the Good People Fund, the loan was retired and C.W. and her family are no longer faced with the threat of losing their home and a possibly brighter future.

What could be better? To think that this all happened because of the actions of a small group of concerned and involved people who believed that it was their responsibility to help. We like the way this small group works-they surely "get it".

*not his real name