Yael Barth - 2024 SWIM4SADNA

Sadnat Shiluv is an educational institution for youth and adults with special needs. It located in the community of Gevaot in Gush Etzion that comprises two schools that develop and customize learning materials for individuals with various levels of functioning, as well as community-based integrated housing arrangements, and a multi-faceted employment network that includes agriculture, animal therapy, art, and the operation of a social café. Swim4Sadna is an annual fundraising event benefitting the students and residents of Sadnat Shiluv in Gevaot. This is our 14th year!  It’s an amazing experience, both on a personal and a communal level, in which participants swim the Kinneret and raise money for different projects in Sadnat Shiluv. This year, the swimmers are raising funds to build a rehabilitation daycare center for people who do not currently have an accessible supportive framework that is appropriate to their needs – socially, communally, therapeutically and occupationally. For the daycare center to operate optimally we also need to purchase the specific therapeutic equipment and accessories the center requires. The center will be geared to adults with special needs and disabilities who cannot integrate into Sadnat Shiluv's diverse employment center because they are getting older, owing to their complex medical conditions or the fact that they are low functioning. Currently, we are only able to cater partially to the lower-functioning population, and we strive to enable them to be integrated in the community and to enjoy a full, meaningful and diverse life while receiving the treatment they require. The daycare center will be built in the heart of the complex of Sadnat Shiluv in Gevaot, so that it will be in a central location and will be accessible to the entire community in Gevaot – the families, students and residents of Sadnat Shiluv. The donations raised will enable us to enrich the world of the residents and provide them with medical and para-medical therapies and services – such as speech therapy, occupational therapy, and physiotherapy – as well as treatment plans for functional independence and sheltered-employment work rooms, among those a ceramics and art room. During the afternoons, extra-curricular activities incorporating local youth and senior citizens will be held for the benefit of the many tenants who live in community-integrated apartments. Beyond the construction of the building, the cost of setting up and equipping the treatment and employment rooms exceeds one million shekels. Thanks to Swim4Sadna 2024, we will be able to make this happen and allow adults with special needs and disabilities to be integrated into the community, to live full lives and to receive the therapy they need. Join us! Donations are tax-deductible in Israel and the USA.