For 40 years the "Orr Shalom" NGO has helped at-risk children and youth to overcome severe abuse and neglect by providing professional help, a loving home, and the opportunity for a better future.
Today, the NGO cares for about 1,400 children and youths, all while maintaining an ever-expanding community of graduates, all of whom have received the tools needed to create a better life for themselves, under the organization's care.
One such graduate is 21-year-old Emanuel, a resident of Jerusalem who came under the care of Orr Shalom at the age of 15, a year after he lost both his mother and father to illness.
"Loss is exceedingly difficult and challenging. I felt as if I was in a dream, just waiting to wake up,” said Emanuel, who vividly recalls arriving at Orr Shalom after having spent a year in the state’s welfare system.
"I was given a warm home… It was a place where I could develop and gain understanding of my situation. It was absolutely not a given,” Emanuel adds.
“I was in a lot of places [before Orr Shalom], and suddenly I arrived at this warm and loving place where I was given the tools I needed to heal. Suddenly I felt that I belonged, I felt good, that I was in a place that’s right for me.”
During his time with Orr Shalom, Emanuel lived with 10 other children in one home, under the loving care of two house parents who helped them with everything, from school work to more personal issues.
“It was just like a family. With a sense of being a part of something, an equal among equals, and that I'm not the only one who went through something,” says Emanuel.
During the weekend, some kids chose to spend time with their biological or foster families. Emanuel, though, says he always preferred staying at the organization’s Family Group Home, where he always felt welcomed and loved.
“It was my home, and I did not want to leave. We had Kiddush and Shabbat meals together. The feeling of home and warmth was everywhere.
“It was great. We were all together, eating together. I would make the fish while another boy cooked something different. Every Saturday I would also make the cake, that was my job,” says Emanuel, who added he learned to bake from his late mother, who herself was a baker before her illness.
"When I was baking they all believed in me, just like my mother believed in me,” he says.
“I was a bit of a mommy’s boy. We used to make desserts and cook together before Shabbat. It was our quality time together. Orr Shalom helped me reconnect to those memories, to my home, to a better time.
“I don’t have my parents to fall back on. Orr Shalom has managed to fill that void,” adds Emanuel, who today is an Orr Shalom graduate, as well as a peer mentor for the NGO’s youth.
“Every youth has a mentor who seeks to help him or her move forward in life, to be there for any question that they may have, to help and give aid in every aspect,” he says.
Now, despite all odds and the endless hardships, Emanuel is an IDF soldier.
“I think it's a privilege. It was important for me to enlist because what I went through is a very significant part of my life, but it does not define me.
“I learned a lot in the army, I managed to evolve. To me it is a very significant part of life,” says Emanuel, who adds he already has his eyes set on the future, thanks in large part to the love and care he received at Orr Shalom.
“One dream of mine is to have a family, to truly recover and move forward. Another is to give back. Maybe by adopting, by being a foster parent, maybe by going back to Orr Shalom and giving a piece of myself to others, just like I received.”
Another dream, Emanuel says, was inspired by his mother, and the precious hours he spent with her in the kitchen.
“I dream of opening a bakery, where I could learn some more. That truly is my biggest dream. To be the best, to give from myself to others.
“Orr Shalom has given me all the tools I need to succeed in life. I only have to use them," he adds.
“For people going through crises, I would like to advise you to utilize the good the world has to offer. Do not let hardships take you down, use them to grow, always.”
Those wishing to donate to Orr Shalom can do so here
First published: 18:27, 01.23.22