Ashalim: Services for Children and Youth at Risk
JDC-ESHEL: Services for the Elderly
Immigrant Integration
Israelis with Disabilities
TEVET: Employment & Entrepreneurship
Responding to Crisis
Israel Research Institutes

VPL-ELKA: Volunteerism, Philanthropy, Lay Leadership, and JDC-ELKA

Need
Faced with the immense task of absorbing new immigrants, eradicating poverty, and caring for its vulnerable populations, the Israeli government must closely cooperate with the nonprofit sector to provide high-quality social services. The significant increase in the number of nonprofits since the advent of the market economy raises the need for a better-coordinated system in which all parties have access to available resources and can build effective partnerships.

Response
JDC-ELKA and the Division for Volunteerism and Philanthropy aim to build the capacity of national and local government institutions so that they can reach their full potential and provide Israel's needy citizens with top quality social services. JDC's strategy includes:
• Working with senior government policy makers and social service providers to enhance their management efficiency and promote cooperation among various government sectors and Israel’s public and nonprofit leadership
• Promoting volunteerism, philanthropy, and grassroots-level community initiatives to create a thriving civil society in Israel
• Encouraging smarter, more effective partnerships among the public, private, and nonprofit sectors

Impact
• More than 4 million volunteer hours have been contributed to local communities by some 50,000 youth through the AMEN Youth Volunteer City program, which was created in 2003. A staggering success, the program has raised youth involvement nationally, going from 10 percent to more than 50 percent in the pilot cities, and has set the stage for future volunteer efforts across Israeli society.

• JDC-ELKA's volunteer coordination efforts identity needs and resources, working in 32 cities nationwide and operating 36 professional training programs for volunteer personnel from more than 450 organizations

• 29 municipalities in Israel’s northern and southern regions received emergency preparedness consulting services from JDC-ELKA, with support from the UJC/Israel Emergency Campaign

• New initiatives that promote Israeli lay leadership (The Penni and Stephen Weinberg Center for Lay leadership in Israel), transparency among non- profits (Midot charity rating and Guidestar Israel), and a culture of giving wisely (The Center for the Study of Philanthropy at Jerusalem’s Hebrew University)

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