Emergency Assistance for People with Disabilities in Wartime

SHEKEL OPERATIONS IN WARTIME SHEKEL is now mobilizing in full emergency mode to ensure the safety and welfare of thousands of people with disabilities throughout Israel who are now living in physical danger and immense emotional distress, surrounded by unrelenting rocket barrages and explosions that have become part of their daily reality. Upon the outbreak of war SHEKEL’s leading therapeutic centers launched an emergency national hotline for children and adults with disabilities, providing immediate and critical therapeutic support for war-related trauma, anxiety, and distress, as well as providing guidance for their families. The need for this service is now acute, since children and adults with disabilities, are exceptionally vulnerable to paralyzing trauma and anxiety, and the war is now retriggering previous traumas for victims of war with disabilities who experienced and witnessed atrocities and terror following Oct. 7., and/or were traumatized by evacuation. Their trauma, in turn impacts the entire family, many of whom are themselves dealing with trauma of war and feel helpless to assist their family members with disabilities. The services of SHEKEL's trauma centers are now crucial, since they are Israel's only non-profit facilities with expertise and experience in trauma therapy for people with disabilities SHEKEL is urgently increasing essential staffing now needed to attend our SHEKEL apartment residents 24/7. Since all vocational, day-center, and cultural/social activities have been closed down, by instruction of the Home Front, residents are now confined to their apartments and in need of full time caring staff presence round-the-clock. Meanwhile a high proportion of male staff are now missing due to army enlistment, while many female staff with young children are unable to come to work, necessitating SHEKEL taking on additional new staff. For many SHEKEL residents, including older individuals, SHEKEL constitutes their real-world family. Many literally have nowhere else to go. As approximately 150 SHEKEL apartments are located in Israel’s central, and Jerusalem regions, our housing residents are now exposed to massive ongoing rocket fire barrages and frequent explosions, causing extreme distress and immediate danger. In apartments where residents are low-functioning and use wheelchairs, one staff member is needed per resident in order to ensure all residents safely enter the safe rooms on time. Your donation will provide critical assistance to people with disabilities in wartime.