The Children's Home and Covid-19

Since the outbreak of Covid-19 in Israel in March, many things have changed in the daily routines and conduct of the Home, some becoming the new norm. The most significant change was confining the children to their generic groups, turning them into bubbles, in order to reduce contact between children and staff from different groups. Following the Passover vacation, classes were moved into the living quarters as well. While prior to Covid-19 all the children would eat lunch together in the main dining room every day, with the outbreak the dining room was shut down and all meals are now held each bubble in its group's cottage. Following the ever-changing guidelines of the Ministry of Health, the children have returned to studying in the school building, but the dining room is still closed. The kitchen staff cooks all the meals in the main kitchen and transfers them to each cottage prior to the meals.

Another major change was cancelling all the extracurricular activities due to the fact that access to the Home was limited only to the caregivers and personnel. We hope that following the high holidays we will be able to renew extracurricular activities, as they are an important part of the children's therapeutic process. In addition, parents' visits have been affected by Covid-19. Currently family visits can only take place outdoors so that the 2 meter restriction is met. We anticipate that this will continue until the weather does not allow for outdoor visits, at which time we will need to reevaluate the situation.

Other changes included adding cleaning staff to meet the need for high levels of cleanliness and hygiene throughout the day, adding an additional awake overnight counselor who patrols between the cottages and provides backup and additional support to the regular awake overnight counselors. We also added more psychological and social care for the children and their families, to help them deal with the pressures and anxieties that have arisen as a result of the crisis. All these changes and additions translate into huge financial expenses (worth more than NIS 1 million) that are not included in the budget and therefore need to be covered by donations alone.

Photography at the Children's Home

Five children from the junior unit participated in a photography course last year held at Musrara – The Nagar School of Art and Society in Jerusalem (until it was canceled due to the crisis). The course is part of the special education school's program to promote education in the arts and is taught by a professional photographer over ten weekly sessions. The group grew closer as their love for photography grew, and as the sessions advanced the children's self-esteem grew along with their photographical capabilities. In each session the children learned different concepts and techniques in the field of photography, and learned about camera operation, shooting angles, light and shadow, focus, composition, self-expression and even developing images in a dark room.

Staff Dedication in the Wake of Covid-19

What happens when a group of eleven 9-11 year old girls at the Home, suffering from psychological problems, go into quarantine after being exposed to someone who is positive for Covid-19? Going into quarantine in itself is difficult, but when you add to it the fragile state of our girls, the situation becomes much more complex. This unfolded in the middle of the summer in the young girl's group at the Home. Two of the group's counselors bravely took upon themselves to go into quarantine along with the girls to ease the situation as much as possible. At the same time, two other staff members as well as two girls from the same group contracted the virus and all went into quarantine together in an isolated part of the campus. The ill staff members chose to be in isolation along with the two sick girls, so that these girls could continue receiving one on one treatment and care, despite the illness. These staff members as well as all the rest of the staff that worked around the clock to assist the sick and quarantined girls are our heroes. With the wonderful help and support of the dedicated teachers, counselors, psychologists, social works and coordinators, the children went home for the summer vacation as strengthened as possible in these uncertain times.

Graduation in the Shadow of Covid-19

One of the main goals of the Jerusalem Hills Children's Home is to create a safe and stable environment for the children in our care. Unfortunately, due to the Covid-19 reality, towards the end of the fourth and final year of the Ofer group, the children were faced with a daily feeling of uncertainty. Uncertainty raises the children's stress levels, as well as their families'. The changes the Covid-19 crisis brought with it completely changed the group's planned last year program from April forward and the staff had to re-plan both educational and extracurricular activities, in accordance with the ever-changing Ministry of Health's guidelines.

Every group that reaches its final year at the Home goes through a gradual leaving process. The Covid-19 crisis created a situation where instead of working on separation, the relationships between the children deepened as well as the relationships between the children and their staff.

The graduation process also includes group discussions, diagnoses and assessments of the children's future treatment and their readiness to move on to another residential treatment program, interviews and tours of the possible centers, making a graduation album, planning and creating a group graduation project and a final overnight group trip. In ordinary times, children are involved in some way in their placement process, but unfortunately in these hectic times, all interviews were conducted on zoom and not in the presence of the children, and the staff had to encourage and strengthen the children's sense of belonging and being part of the process.

Finally and despite the need to be flexible and adapt the events to the requirements of the Ministry of Health, all the milestone events that were supposed to take place, did. The group held an intimate graduation party in its cottage instead of a big party in the Home's dining room – the children welcomed this change and were happy to have their own intimate party. Parents' Day was held in family bubbles at the nearby Ein Hemed National Park where each family sat on their own, instead of the traditional Parents' Day which is held in the living quarters at the Children's Home. The finale was a two-day trip to the Golan Heights which took place while keeping to the guidelines. 

Despite it All - Traditional Graduation Projects

The Ofer group created a beautiful sitting area as its graduation project. The children took used tires, painted them in bright colors and together with the staff built a hexagonal bench, and planted a lemon tree in the center which will surely bear great fruit!

The Arbel group also graduated over the summer. Like the children of the Ofer group, the boys of the Arbel group went through a gradual separation process throughout the year and they left the Home with mixed feelings. As a graduation project, the Arbel boys chose to renew the soccer/basketball court, where they spent many hours over the years. They repainted the floor markings and placed new nets on the goalposts and baskets.

New School Year at the Home

A new school year recently opened at the Home, where we welcomed back the children who were on summer vacation as well as the new children joining the Home this year. This year is no ordinary year, as was apparent on the first day. The day was filled with mixed feelings of excitement upon returning to the Home, confusion and anxiety upon entering the Home for the first time and parting from the parents for the new children, and apprehension around the Covid-19 test that each child and staff member were to undergo that day, in order to detect and prevent further outbreaks.

Unfortunately, while parents can usually enter the gates of the Home and accompany their children to the cottages, this time due to the Covid-19 restrictions, only the parents of the new children were allowed to enter the Home, however they were not allowed to enter the cottages. Also, the changes and adjustments made at the end of last year, like keeping to bubbles and the reduction of meetings and contact between the various groups, have become routine and we expect them to be relevant at least until the end of the school year.

The year just started and already the children went home for holiday! The children went home for Rosh Hashanah and returned after Yom Kippur, in accordance with the guidelines of the Ministry of Welfare. Upon the children's return, they will have school for three days until the eve of Succot, at which time the Home will go into "Vacation Group" mode, and all the children will enjoy a variety of activities conducted by their dedicated counselors and teachers.

Rounding-Up with Israeli Credit Cards

We are happy to announce that JHTC has joined Igul Letova, a system in which you donate your rounded-up Israeli credit card purchases towards the Children's Home. If you own an Israeli credit card please join Round-up - Your small change can make a big difference for our children.