Meir Shfeyah Youth Village
Israel 30806
04-6390750 (telephone)
04-6397760 (fax)
Donor opportunities – January 2015
About Meir Shfeyah
History and partnership
The Meir Shfeyah Children’s and Youth Village was founded in 1923 and for more than 90 years has been educating and providing a home to refugees, new immigrants and Israeli adolescents at risk. Junior Hadassah and the Hadassah Women’s
Organization has sponsored the village since 1925 and contributes significantly to renovation and maintenance of village facilities including the Deborah Kaplan Sports
Center, the Bonnie Lipton Center for the Performing Arts, the Dr. June Walker High
School, innovative educational programs, dormitory renovations, a Bet Midrash and the annual student delegation to Poland.
Shfeyah is licensed and supported by the Ministry of Education Rural Education
Division , the Jewish Agency, youth Aliyah and the Department of Social Welfare. We provide an educational environment, residential program and agricultural education which enable our students to feel part of and participate in the life of the village while acquiring skills, knowledge and values necessary to succeed and contribute to society.
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Our population
Shfeyah serves diverse groups of students from 12-18 years old, including Jews, Druze,
Moslems and Christians from Israel, from Ethiopia, from Russia and from Eritrea who for various educational, social and/or economic reasons require residential placement in order to succeed and fulfill their goals. Students are referred to us by the Ministry of
Social Services and Youth Aliyah because they have been abused and/or abusive and require a safe, caring environment in order to change patterns of failure and realize their potential. In addition , we educate another 250 external students from surrounding communities who study in a special program developed by the Mofet organization for the advancement of the sciences and math who study in self-contained but integrated classes with qualified residential students .
Our facilities
Shfeyah is located in the beautiful natural surroundings of the Carmel Mountains near
Zichron Yaakov. The village includes the junior and senior high school, library, computer labs, science labs, dormitories, auditorium and music center, amphitheater, dining room, gymnasium, synagogue, soccer stadium, swimming pool, staff housing, a
Lone Soldier’s Home, museum and visitors’ center, dairy, chicken farm, computerized greenhouse, an organic farm, vineyards and orchards. During September 2005, the
Shfeyah Winery began operation and produces 3000 bottles of premium wine annually.
The winery is run by a staff of 11 th and 12 th grade students under the supervision of the village agricultural director and a local wine maker.
One girl’s story
Sarah was referred to us by the Department of Social Welfare as an at-risk teenager whose father was in jail and whose unmarried mother was a drug abuser with 3 additional younger children from different fathers. Sarah came to Shfeyah in the 8 th grade and was at first hostile and uncooperative, refusing to participate in village activities and underachieving in school. While at the village she began using drugs and received treatment at an outpatient clinic after agreeing to remain at the village and attend classes. She was surrounded by adults who supported her and didn’t give up on her and succeeded in ending her drug use, became an outstanding student, completed her Bagrut ( matriculation) certificate and decided that she wanted to become a social worker to help children like herself. Sarah completed her army service, completed her degree in Social Work and found employment in a youth village similiar to Shfeyah and later in a community center for at risk children. She married at the age of 28, is raising two daughters with her husband and continues to work as a social worker, giving back what she has learned and received to others who need someone like her to make a difference in their lives.
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1) After school learning center – 1,200,000 NIS ( $300,000)
The after school learning center is located in our outdated library building and serves most of our 250 residential students between 2-9 pm 5 days / week. Our students, who are often 2-5 years behind in their studies, receive help with their homework and remedial teaching in small groups or one to one, with a qualified teacher.
The building requires major renovations including rewiring, air conditioning, constructing study carrels, computer stations, carpeting, curtains, furnishings and resource materials.
Additional cost of teachers’ salaries 200,000 NIS / year
2) Science Center Complex - 6,000,000 NIS ( $1,500,000)
More than 50 % of our students major in one of the sciences – Physics, Chemistry or
Biology and we have received approval but not funding from the Ministry of Education to build a science complex including additional classrooms and science labs on our campus. Presently because of overcrowding , 6 classrooms are located in prefabricated caravans around the main school building. The new complex would be 950 square
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meters and includes bomb shelters for the school , a physics lab, biology lab, chemistry lab and lab store room and preparation room.
3) Culinary school – 2,500,000 NIS ( $640,000)
We have received approval from the Ministry of Education to open a culinary arts program for our students but our facilities are inadequate. In order to implement this academic and vocational program we need to renovate the existing village kitchen and build a compatible building addition to be used for instruction .
4) Dormitory renovation – 2,200.000 NIS ( $565,000)
Dormitory building #8 is unsuitable for use for our students and is temporarily housing a short term pre-army program ( mechina). The dormitory which houses 40 children needs to be renovated including enlarging rooms and bathrooms, renovating student lounge and staff facilities in the building, electricity, air conditioning, furnishings, internal and external repairs and painting.
5) Sports Complex 6,000,000 NIS ( $1,500,000)
Today’s sports facilities at Shfeyah include a swimming pool, soccer stadium and very outdated gym which serve 600 students as well as summer camps and sports teams which rent the facilities during school vacations.
Our plans include covering and heating the swimming pool and showers, building a new gymnasium with heating and air conditioning for year-round use, 2 tennis courts , running track , basketball / volleyball court and outdoor sports park with recreational and exercise equipment.
6) Shfeyah archives – 500,000 NIS ( $130,000)
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In June 2014 Shfeyah opened its newly renovated Visitors’ Center and Museum on the first floor of a 100 year old building listed as an Israeli Heritage Site.
Funds are still needed to renovate the second floor to organize, preserve and store the original photos and documents from our archives and to provide meeting rooms for staff and visitors to the museum.
7) Journey to Ethiopia $50,000 / year
This year, for the second time, Shfeyah sent a delegation of 20 student representatives from the village on a heritage mission to Ethiopia where after 4 months of preparation and volunteer work at a local Ethiopian youth center , they visited the remaining Jewish communities in Ethiopia and places where some of their families once lived. The goals of this mission are to educate
Ethiopian and non Ethiopian students about the rich heritage their families left
,the hardships and challenges they faced and to appreciate their own culture, histories and the opportunities they are privileged to experience living in Israel.
The cost of this trip is $2,500 / person.
8) Dental clinic at Meir Shfeyah 400,000 NIS ( $103,000)
In our health clinic at Meir Shfeyah is space for a dental clinic to serve more than 250 students who live at the village. Funds are needed for building renovations and equipment which would enable us to provide much needed and neglected dental services to our students on the premises .
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9) Testing for learning disabilities 100,000 NIS / year ( $26,000)
The majority of our residential students are underachievers when they first come to our school, many because of undiagnosed and untreated learning disabilities. Didactic testing for learning disabilities in Israel is private and costs approximately 1,500 NIS / student. These funds would allow us to test approximately 60 students annually, enabling us to develop more effective learning strategies and programs for each of these children.
10) Psychological services / social workers 200,000 NIS
/year ( $52,000)
As our student population increases, the budget provided by the Ministry of
Education is no longer adequate to hire enough social workers and an onsite psychologist for our students. We are forced to send students to outside sources for therapy and treatment .
11) Emergency fund and scholarships ( $250,000 )
Many of our students’ families are unable to provide their children with adequate housing, clothing and food. Our residential students receive a budget for clothing and transportation but often return home for weekend visits to an empty refridgerator ( yes, in 2015 in Israel ) . When we identify these needy students we send care packages home to their families including meals for shabbat .
Also,as more and more of our graduates pursue higher education after completing their army service, we attempt to find donations to provide at least partial scholarships for these graduates whose families do not have financial resources to assist them. These funds would enable us to help these needy and deserving students .
We are happy to provide more detailed information about any of these projects you would be interested in supporting.
Thank you for your interest in becoming involved in the work we do. You can help make a difference in the lives of the children at the Meir Shfeyah Youth Village and contribute to our work of providing of a better and safer place for our children to grow up in.
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