WELCOME TO AKIM-JERUSALEM
We believe that when parents and professionals work together they produce the best and most timely solutions for the needs of persons with disabilities. AKIM-Jerusalem offers special care and support to persons with intellectual disabilities of all ages and levels of functioning, and to their families.
We hope that you will find the following pages of interest and will contact us with questions, comments and suggestions.
AKIM-Jerusalem, established in 1951 by Drs. Avraham and Mali Spighel, continuously renews itself. We are a Jerusalem-based, voluntary, non-profit association. We operate in the cultural and religious center of the world in the shadow of struggles, difficulties and divisions.
AKIM-Jerusalem employs and serves Jews, Christians and Muslims irrespective of their religion, ethnicity, gender, political opinions or other affiliations.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beit Rachel Strauss Center for
Treatment, Training and Leisure
The Center, which is located behind our three hostels in the Talpiot neighborhood of Jerusalem, will form the cornerstone of AKIM-Jerusalem’s work for its aging clients. This Center will offer more than 30 different programs of life-preserving services, workshops and other leisure time opportunities that aim at allowing our clients to age with dignity among their friends, close to their homes and remaining families and to remain in touch with ‘typical’ people from the general community as well.
Thanks to the support of the Bituach Leumi (National Insurance Institute) which has agreed to underwrite 70% of the cost, the Center will undergo extensive renovations and refurbishment during 2012 to make the building accessible to people with physical impairments as well. This leaves AKIM-Jerusalem with the need to raise another $450,000 in order to complete the project.
In addition, hundreds of persons with disabilities from the Jerusalem community will, according to a needs-survey we conducted, use the premises and the services it will offer. Beit Rachel Strauss will become a "quality -of-life-haven" for persons with special needs worthy of its location in the capital of Israel.
For more details about this project and how you can contribute towards
some of the costs of individual programs planned for Beit Rachel Strauss, the needed equipment and the renovation itself, please contact:
Stefan Rothschild, Director for External Affairs & Resource Development stefroth@netvision.net.il or 972 -054 -480 7428.
for donations press here to choose the most convenient way to help us!
Congratulations to Ms. Jeanne Vassal
Jeanne, together with Jeroen, a volunteer from Holland,
celebrating her son, Yisrael's birthday
Ms. Jeanne Vassal, long time member of AKIM-Jerusalem was recently awarded the Shield Prize of the Minister of Social Affairs for exemplary volunteering in the year 2011. The prize ceremony will take place in May, 2012 at the Jerusalem Theater.
Ms. Vassal, foster mother to a child with an intellectual disability, has volunteered with AKIM-Jerusalem for the last 15 years. Her expertise is in budgeting, financial analysis and in developing economic models on which the association has come to rely with complete satisfaction. Jeanne’s contribution allows hundreds of clients and their families to receive excellent and effective services while the association continues to enjoy financial stability and even growth.
Jeanne is the second of AKIM-Jerusalem’s board members who has been awarded an important public prize after Ms. Rivka Sneh-Friedman was appointed the ‘notable Jerusalemite’ medal last year.
These achievements are a great source of pride and inspiration to the workers and clients of AKIM-Jerusalem!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For an article published for Holocaust Memorial Day in the Maariv newspaper about one of our long-time residents, Meir,
a survivor of Dr. Mengele's viscious experiments, please press here
