AGUDAT REFUAH VECHAIM

Spread out from Bnei- Brak to nine other locations throughout Israel, the Refuah' VeChaim association was founded in 1987. Initiated primarily as a helping hand to the growing community of families collapsing under the physical, financial and mental pressure of raising autistic or CP (Cerebral Palsy) children; Refuah' VeChaim now has fourteen departments, each specifying in helping the disadvantaged community in Israel with a wide range of social, medical, and psychological challenges. Today, some 35 years later, Refuah' VeChaim is a hard-working foundation that operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, serving some 250,000 people yearly. In the years since its establishment, Refuah' VeChaim has seen steady growth and diversification. The foundation currently has 9 operational ambulances, designated to drive chronically sick or disabled persons, and occupies 985 volunteers, paramedics on board, as well as physicians, medical consultants, and 52 paid workers. It lends a helping hand in times of crisis and other hardships on a regular basis to a diverse population, and its base of persons and families seeking help is growing rapidly due to both a high birth rate in the area and a growing sick and senior citizen population. Allow me to tell you of the main areas of activity carried out by the fourteen existing departments of Refuah' VeChaim daily. 1. Medical Advice and Consultancy. Head of this dept., Rabbi Itschak Stern has no real visiting hours. For long parts of the day and night, he sees people and together with them, tries to make the best of usually very complex medical situations. He is in constant touch with the top doctors and heads of departments in all the big hospitals in Israel, as well as the chief Rabbis; all in order to be able to help in the best way possible those who need urgent medical support in harsh times of uncertainty. The medical consultancy dept. receives 1,500 telephone calls monthly, including during Shabbat and holidays, when in matters of life and death. 2. Transportation of the Sick and Disabled. Refuah' VeChaim takes great measures to make sure no one seeking help would be turned down. Patients who are bedridden or confined to a wheelchair are very limited in their transportation options. Some might be kidney patients or the elderly; others may be on a respirator or of comprised mobility as per a disability or lung disease. All those need transportation services from time to time: whether to see their doctor periodically or to receive medical treatments at the hospital, such as the three times a week dialysis; or other forms of medical care. Refuah' VeChaim operates ambulances and various handicapped vehicles that stand ready to drive those in need to and from medical appointments or treatments. Some 14,100 calls requesting transportation are received at the desk of this department yearly, day and night. None go unanswered. 3. Medical Equipment Distribution. Refuah' VeChaim holds millions of Shekels worth of medical equipment, intended for free distribution. Be it post operation or a long recovery period, the association lends 9,650 pieces of medical equipment every month to anyone in need. Furthermore, Refuah' VeChaim puts up an on- call trained volunteer to answer urgent requests for medical equipment, should someone need something urgently at night. בס"ד www.refuah-vechaim.org.il | 60 רפואה וחיים | ע.ר. 908850085 | לאגודה פטור ממס לפי סעיף המרכז: רח' אהבת שלום 46 , ת.ד. 6608 בני ברק 96080 | טל. 80-0066644 | פקס. 800-6086600 עמוד 2/1 4. Light meals Distribution. Spread out in 6 various hospitals daily, Refuah' VeChaim volunteers walk around the wards and offer light meals and a beverage, free of charge. This brings on great relief to the parents who stay by the bedside of a hospitalized child, or other family members who stay at the hospital beside a loved one for long stretches of time; while the hospitalized patient is fed by the hospital and the family member accompanying them will usually stay hungry... 1,100 light meals are distributed every day by our volunteers. 5. Our Special Children. Refuah' VeChaim has taken the families of 755 special children, sick with the most complex ailments, under its wings. These children are severely disabled, autistic and sick with CP (Cerebral Palsy), allowing their parents and families very little time to do anything but take care of their sick child. Refuah' VeChaim took it upon itself to care for these families, and take the sick children out of the house to various enjoyable activities throughout the week and year. Special weekend and holiday retreats are set up for the special children, as well as one week long retreat in the summer. Furthermore, Refuah' VeChaim operates 9 afternoon daycare centers who take in the special children after school, play with them and safely occupy them until it is time to go home in the evening; thus giving their parents a few precious extra hours to do simple weekly chores such as food shopping or to be able to sit with the other children and help them with their homework. An intricate operation revolves around these outings, since the responsibility of transporting the sick children is great- they must be transported via specially equipped ambulances to and fro, as well as be with a volunteer at all times. These special children are to never be left alone for even a minute since this might be a threat to their lives. 6. Emotional and Psychological Support. Refuah' VeChaim operates an incoming calls call center, behind which sit some of the best experts and consultants in the field. As per difficulties and hardships that already exist, as well as those further highlighted since the Covid epidemic, many call in with emotional first aid help requests. Those are tended to with much sensitivity and professionalism, even more so during all hours of the night, when those dealing with emotional difficulties are in much distress since the medical teams are not available. We receive between 20 and 30 calls every evening! 7. Matchmaking Services. The new proud addition to Refuah' VeChaim, this year. Refuah' VeChaim upkeeps a very special service that makes connections between men and women in special medical conditions, for marital purposes. This is a discreet job, full of kindness and grace, as the matchmaking takes place in situations where until now no one dared to think of coupling two such sick people together; and they usually suffered great loneliness over and above what they suffer due to their illness. Born with a medical condition such as Juvenile Onset Diabetes, Down Syndrome, Epilepsy, Autism, and other born disabilities or genetic complications; these people were usually destined to stay single since not many would set on such an endeavor in offering the idea of a match. This department is accompanied by the best medical advisors in the field as well as genetic experts that carefully review their medical files and assure both sides as to the risk level in such every case of marriage, and make sure to maintain risk levels to the minimum. בס"ד www.refuah-vechaim.org.il | 60 רפואה וחיים | ע.ר. 908850085 | לאגודה פטור ממס לפי סעיף המרכז: רח' אהבת שלום 46 , ת.ד. 6608 בני ברק 96080 | טל. 80-0066644 | פקס. 800-6086600 עמוד 3/1 Five skilled and very sensitive matchmakers, men and women, tackle the challenges and perform this job daily, which is the mere definition of humanity in action. We are proud to report that twenty such wonderful matchmaking efforts were resulted in marriage so far, and the road is still ahead of us! 8. Assistance to the Elderly. Community outreach to members of the golden age. To those who are sick, bed ridden or just tired, a Refuah' VeChaim volunteer will arrive to visit at home. They will go out to buy necessary medicine, equipment, or food and bring it back to the house. Under this umbrella, basic needed home maintenance or required light repairs will be offered, as a tribute of respect to the elderly who are unable to perform these tasks by themselves. The Simcha (happiness) Department. Since Refuah' VeChaim is all too familiar with hospitals from within, hundreds of volunteers visit the various wards to have Simcha parties for the patients or psychiatric inmates. These parties light up the lives of hospitalized patients. Once a week, every Thursday night, for more than twenty years now, Refuah' VeChaim volunteers go sing and play musical instruments in psychiatric hospitals, nursing homes, geriatric institutes, and mentally fatigued hostels. The volunteers cheer the inmates up with dancing, singing, and warm and empathetic interaction. Other than the weekly visit to these hospitals and care centers, seventy-five such parties are carried out yearly by Refuah' VeChaim, around all Jewish holidays. 9. The Simcha (happiness) Department. Since Refuah' VeChaim is all too familiar with hospitals from within, hundreds of volunteers visit the various wards to have Simcha parties for the patients or psychiatric inmates. These parties light up the lives of hospitalized patients. Once a week, every Thursday night, for more than twenty years now, Refuah' VeChaim volunteers go sing and play musical instruments in psychiatric hospitals, nursing homes, geriatric institutes and mentally fatigued hostels. The volunteers cheer the inmates up with dancing, singing and a warm and empathetic interaction. Other than the weekly visit to these hospitals and care centers, seventy five such parties are carried out yearly by Refuah' VeChaim, around all Jewish holidays. 10. Transporting Family Members to Hospitals. More often than not, many people in Israel suffer socioeconomic descent. When a family member undergoes a medical procedure that requires a long stay at the hospital, the patient, whether it is a child or an adult, needs a family member by his side. Many are unable to travel back and forth to hospitals by private or paid transportation and are at a loss for solutions. Two hundred Refuah' VeChaim volunteers stand ready and take turns driving such people in need to and back from hospitals in their private vehicles, to relieve the pressure in such a hard time when a family member is hospitalized. Refuah' VeChaim tends to about 170 such calls monthly. 11. Wish Fulfillment. In difficult cases of a terminally ill patient, Refuah' VeChaim will do all that is needed to fulfill last wishes, make the patient smile or bring together family members to experience some sort of rejoicing together with the ill at his house in his last days/ months. They will come over and throw a party, play music, and bring food, and will usually not leave until the patient shows some sort of contentment. בס"ד www.refuah-vechaim.org.il | 60 רפואה וחיים | ע.ר. 908850085 | לאגודה פטור ממס לפי סעיף המרכז: רח' אהבת שלום 46 , ת.ד. 6608 בני ברק 96080 | טל. 80-0066644 | פקס. 800-6086600 עמוד 4/1 12. Sick Visiting Society. Men and women volunteers are called in to stay by the bedside of the sick, bedridden, or people confined to a wheelchair. They visit, offer help, read together, talk, learn something together and apply any other way in which to be helpful. 13. Blood Donations. Once a month, life-saving blood donations are collected from healthy volunteers. Magen David Adom collects the blood portions for use in times of emergency or war. The blood goes to the Israeli National Blood Bank for safekeeping. This is a particular act of benevolence done with one's body, for the health and wellbeing of other Jews, an activity strongly promoted by Refuah' VeChaim year round. 14. Welcoming of the Sabbath. Every Friday afternoon, a few hours before Shabbat, Refuah' VeChaim volunteers go to three major hospitals and distribute special kits for the upcoming Shabbat. These kits include a pair of Shabbat candles, a small wine bottle, some bread rolls, a newspaper, and some candy. Three hundred such kits are distributed every Friday to anyone who wants them and were rushed to the hospital without having time to make sure they have what is needed for the Shabbat kiddush. Each kit contains all mentioned above, as well as a visiting card by Refuah' VeChaim with a telephone number and a strong encouragement to call us, should any need arise or any request stays unfulfilled. Refuah' VeChaim declared its utmost important goal to give any sick or needy the best feeling possible while offering the most appropriate and effective support. Our volunteers are practiced and well versed in treating our patients with utmost warmhearted, patience, and cordial gentleness. The devotion and dedication of our staff of volunteers are astonishing and heartwarming. A testimony to that is the families supported by Refuah' VeChaim who keep sending in their children every week, every year and call themselves in the thousands of letters sent in, "Members of the Refuah' VeChaim family". The management will go to great lengths to do all that is in its power to help with any request laid on its desk. Resources will be directed in correspondence with the needs of the hour; as well as in times of emergency or war when the crisis units are reinforced and Refuah' VeChaim adds volunteers to strengthen the helping hand lent in these times of dire need. Over the years, Refuah' VeChaim received a decoration from the president of Israel, a commendation by the Minister of Health, public recognition by the Ministry of Social Services, an award by the head of the Israeli Knesset; and thousands of appreciation letters from a wide array of public figures, ministers, doctors, professors and of course- the families themselves who are the direct beneficiaries of this whole operation, and the very reason for its existence.