Fund for Women and Girls

Counseling Center for Women (CCW) is a therapy center run by women for women. It has a staff of 25 clinical social workers, clinical psychologists, and psychiatrists that treats more than 300 women each week according to women’s unique emotional and psychological needs. CCW is currently training other agencies in feminist therapy, contributing to Israel’s ability to cope with nationwide trauma. This general operating grant builds on our initial grant of $15,000 to expand their work and serve the growing number of women and girls seeking services.

Tahel Crisis Center helps victims of abuse and their families overcome crisis; prevents further abuse by providing educational training; increases the awareness of abuse and domestic violence within the religious community; develops and implements “safety” programs and protocols for communities and institutions; and lowers the incidence of PTSD by providing post-trauma workshops. This general operating grant provides critical funds so that Tahel can care for an increasing number of women and girls who are seeking services to due the impact of the war and often unable to seek services through broader organizations.

We Power promotes women’s leadership within all tiers of Israel society, increases awareness of gender inequality, and brings about social change to advance a more equitable civic society. We Power, which consults the U.N. on women’s leadership, recognizes that women in positions of power promote more balanced decision-making processes and allocate resources in a more equitable manner that better address women’s needs and concerns. This general operating grant will support We Power’s work to ensure that women have decision making power in Israel’s future.

Known as Women Lawyers for Social Justice, Itach Ma’aki empowers women subjected to social, geographic, national, ethnic, and economic discrimination in Israeli society. Itach Ma’aki provides free legal aid and representation for women in need, promotes discourse about gender within Israel’s diverse communities, promotes female leadership, and advocates for important legal and legislative policies. This general operating grant supports Itach Ma’aki’s work to ensure that women have a seat at local decision-making tables.

Funding will provide support for emergency operations and centers, which is leveraging over 100,000 volunteers and deploy Bonot Alternativa’s team to provide treatments (e.g., psychologists, speech therapists, physical therapists, etc.) to services such as laundry and babysitting, as required. The first Bonot emergency communal center is up-and-running in Eilat where scores of families from Sderot and the surrounding kibbutzim are in hotels and empty flats. They plan to open 8 more centers.

Funding will support the Eden Association’s ability to maintain psychological and trauma services for the 60 displaced young women (ages 12-18) who were evacuated from the Eden School in Kibbutz Karmiya (which is in the Gaza Envelope 3 km from the border) while simultaneously rebuilding the structures that were destroyed by missiles during the attack.

The October 7^th attack has created trauma for survivors and victims that is resulting in huge increases in outreach and need for services. This grant would help the ARCCI and nine regional Rape Crisis Centers (RCCs), the only centers in Israel whose main aim is to combat sexual violence, meet that need. The RCCs provide services, including hotlines, support groups, workplace education, help through the legal process, and counseling for victims of sexual violence.

Funding will provide psychotherapy to community members impacted by the October 7^th attack, including survivors of the music festival; citizens from the South who were able to escape the Hamas attack; evacuees; families who lost close relatives; journalists, social workers and other psychotherapists experiencing 2nd degree trauma; and others. The Center is also helping evacuees via support groups for single mothers, English-speaking Israeli women, women volunteering in emergency relief initiatives, and women with family members in the armed forces, among others.

Ruach-Nashit  helps victims of violence find employment and establish financial independence so that they can escape from situations of poverty and risk. Funding will support three social workers and help purchase computers for the organization’s southern branch. Their staff in the south have been overwhelmed with an increased flow of physical and psychological requests as well as growing needs from their participants, women survivors of abuse, many of them living in the cities that were infiltrated by terrorists.