Yemin Orde Youth Village Opens Its Doors to Families from Southern Israel Seeking Relief
Yemin Orde Youth Village and Yemin Orde Educational Initiatives are serving as support and sanctuary for families from southern Israel who seek a safe haven from the terrifying constant rocket barrage in their region during Operation Protective Edge.
Bethesda, MD, August 1, 2014 (Newswire.com) - Friends of Yemin Orde has announced that Yemin Orde Youth Village and Yemin Orde Educational Initiatives (YOEI) are serving as support and sanctuary for families from southern Israel who seek a safe haven from the terrifying constant rocket barrage in their region during Operation Protective Edge. The Village’s usual population of more than 400 at-risk youth is reduced during the summer months and so can accommodate families and individuals who are directly impacted by Israel’s ongoing conflict. Friends of Yemin Orde is the U.S. fundraising arm of the Village and YOEI. Visit http://www.yeminorde.org for more information.
Yemin Orde’s location in northern Israel, near Haifa, leaves it removed from most of the rocket attacks in the southern communities.
We are providing a safe haven for our kids and their relatives where they can escape from the dangers present in so many places throughout the country.
Shmuli Bing, Director, Yemin Orde Youth Village
“We are providing a safe haven for our kids and their relatives if in need of help where they can escape from the dangers present in so many places throughout the country,” said Shmuli Bing, Director, Yemin Orde Youth Village. “Our therapeutic staff attends to the children's worries and offers comfort and a listening ear.”
Additionally, YOEI, which supports the Yemin Orde Mechina (pre-military leadership program for at-risk immigrant youth) is hosting 150 men, women and children at the Mechina’s campus in the northern town of Hatzor HaGlilit. Staff and graduates of the Mechina program who are not currently serving in active or reserve duty in the Israeli military, have volunteered to help their guests remain comfortable and temporarily worry-free.
YOEI’s mechina is the only pre-military leadership program in Israel that is specifically geared toward the country’s at-risk immigrant youth population. Its participants undergo one year of training designed to build leadership skills, enhance their physical training and help them develop an understanding of Israel history and Jewish culture. Volunteering in the community and helping others is an important learning element in the program. Today, hundreds of mechina graduates are actively serving or are in the reserves of the Israel Defense Force.
“We are glad to have the facilities and volunteers able to help others during this difficult time in Israel, and be able to put into action the values that have guided the mechina in its many years of activity,” said Chaim Peri, Founder, Yemin Orde Educational Initiatives.
Yemin Orde Youth Village is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, to provide a home, safe haven and excellent education to hundreds of Israel’s at-risk and immigrant youth population. YOEI is an independent organization established to expand the Village’s acclaimed educational methodology, called the Village Way, to other youth villages, public high schools and residential communities in Israel. ###