Osim Shechuna
Building a Cohesive Society
A social and Zionist movement to strengthen the national resilience of the State of Israel
Physical and social revitalization of distressed neighborhoods in Israel.
.jpg)
Our story
Founded in 2021, Osim Shechuna’s presence and activities cultivate positive local leadership, decrease crime in vulnerable neighborhoods and restore a sense of personal safety to the streets. The model is a grassroots one in which community activists identify the basic needs of their neighborhood and assume leadership positions to assure implementation of programs and activities for the benefit of the entire community. By strengthening values of mutual responsibility and community involvement, neighborhood residents remain engaged, fostering a sense of pride in their work and environs.
The need
Several prominent factors characterize distressed neighborhoods in Israel: the lack of a sense of security, the absence of positive leadership, “brain drain,” high crime rates, a general lack of trust, neglect, and little connection to other parts of the country. About half of the residents in communities where we work are Ethiopian immigrants, and some 15% come from the former Soviet Union. These neighborhoods are characterized by buildings from the 1950s and 1970s in disrepair, hundreds of cases of violence annually, a myriad of petty and serious crimes, and rampant drug and alcohol abuse.
In the State of Israel today, there are 195 distressed neighborhoods and 330,000 high-risk children and teenagers. It is specifically in the most deprived neighborhoods where the potential for constructive social change lies. The development of local leaders who can identify the needs on the ground and assume responsibility are the ones who spearhead changes that impact their city and surrounding areas. Our project identifies and cultivates these local leaders, who have created trust, restored hope and repaired broken communities.
Our Solution & Strategies
Osim Shechuna creates positive impact and long-term change for, and among, local residents. The organization recruits local leaders to identify the neighborhood’s challenges in order to formulate tailored solutions together with local authorities, from street lighting to education. The leader recruits a local task force and helps select a central (often neglected) location in the neighborhood as a “home base.”
The task force leads community project days, nighttime patrols to locate youth at-risk, the renovation of bomb shelters and leadership training.
EMERGENCY APPEAL-
RENOVATE AND RESTORE INACCESSIBLE COMMUNAL BOMB SHELTERS IN NORTH ISRAEL- SAVE LIVES!!
Address for submitting Checks:
Attn: Giving Group Community(Osim)
The Giving Back Fund
500 Commercial Street/Suite 4R
Boston, MA 02109, US
** GIVING GROUP COMMUNITY/ Osim Shechuna a fiscally sponsored project of The Giving Back Fund, an IRS approved 501(c)(3) public charity (EIN 04-3367888).
GIVING GROUP COMMUNITY is a fiscally sponsored project of The Giving Back Fund, an IRS approved 501(c)(3) public charity (EIN 04-3367888).
Shelters and safe rooms are critical to protect families from both the dangers of being hit by missiles and the arrival of armed terrorists on their doorsteps, sent to murder innocent Jews.
However, after years of disuse, many of these communal bomb shelters are unusable, as they are dangerous, mold-ridden, filled with trash, pitch black without electricity, or experience sewage issues due to poor or non-existent plumbing. Some have been used illegally for storage by people who lock up these communal bomb shelters for their own use and threaten the neighbors not to enter. THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE!
The problem of unusable bomb shelters falls disproportionately on our most vulnerable citizens, mostly low-income families, the elderly, and those living in old buildings.