Meir Panim offers vocational training courses to help stem the tide of rising poverty in Israeli society. It is essential for every capable individual to join the workforce, to prevent falling into the depths of poverty. All of our vocational training programs include empowerment courses, so as to recognize their ability to support themselves, and will infinitely improve their chances of acquiring and retaining lucrative and satisfying jobs.
Programs currently include:
Women are often impeded from pursuing a career; the cycle of birth and parenting increases familial responsibilities, making it difficult to acquire a profession, thus creating a cycle of poverty that will not be easily overcome. There are also many women that, for lack of experience and training, do not have any marketable skills, and therefore have difficulty finding and keeping a job. Many others have become disenchanted from failed attempts to integrate into the workforce, resulting in personal distress, a sense of helplessness and insecurity that affect the women’s mindset, often resulting in depression and inability to function, and consequently leading to deterioration in their personal and family situation. In addition, many women that have fallen prey to domestic violence suddenly find themselves the sole breadwinners, while the trauma they have recently endured combines with the frustrations of providing for themselves and their families, raising the women’s’ stress levels, which directly and conversely effect their chances of finding and keeping a lucrative job.
Meir Panim works with welfare and municipal authorities and other relevant organizations to reach out to unemployed women and provide them with the necessary skills to join the workforce. We have created a vocational program in which women learn the skills necessary to find jobs and become financially independent. The skills we impart will enable the women to find jobs as secretaries, sales people and customer support, among other positions. This project began as a pilot in 2006-2007 in Haifa and Jerusalem, and was resoundingly successful, with 67% of participants finding gainful employment upon the termination of the project.
Our project is comprised of four stages:
- Personal Empowerment and Pre-Employment Course: The women undergo a course to rediscover their self-confidence, examine their marketable skills and recognize their ability to support themselves. The course includes analysis of various types of employment opportunities; an introduction to the Israeli workforce; job searching advice, including internet and newspaper searches; interview preparation, including simulations; and dealing with disappointments in job searching.
- Vocational Training: The women participate in a basic computer-fluency course. The course covers all Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, Internet Explorer, PowerPoint, etc.) as well as website building, and includes executive secretarial skills. All participants who complete this course are able to apply for any position requiring computer skills.
- English Language: Participants have the opportunity to take an English language course, which enables them to work in positions that require a basic level of English.
- Job Placement: A placement coordinator accompanies the participants throughout the course to assist them in locating suitable positions in their area, advises them in areas such as resume writing and in preparation for interviews. The coordinator is also available for consultation and guidance after the women begin their new jobs.
The participants are provided with individual guidance in all aspects of the training, job searching and integration into the workforce throughout the course and for a period of six months after the course’s completion, receiving a total of ten months of guidance and support.
Ten percent of Israel’s total population are elderly, of which 22.2% live under the poverty line. Many elderly individuals, including Holocaust survivors, live in total solitude, without access to basic necessities, prevented by their disabilities from leaving their homes for food or medicine, and have no one to help them with minor household repairs. This involuntary solitude has severely detrimental effects, both physical and emotional.
In addition, the number of youth in Israel that are defined as “at-risk” is growing at an alarming rate. Today, there are over 100,000 youth considered at-risk in Israel of all ethnic and cultural backgrounds. These young adults live at or below the poverty line, and many are addicted to drugs and/or alcohol. 12,000 young adults live in situations of distress, such as homelessness, unwanted pregnancies and sexual abuse, and many have police records for violence and vandalism. At-risk youth are often afflicted with low self-esteem, poor academic achievement and a lack in basic learning skills. Most have no expectations or goals for the future.
Our project brings relief to the aged while providing youth at-risk with the employment training and the boost of self-esteem that they so desperately need in order to turn their lives around. The “Young Aiding the Old” project trains at-risk young adults in basic carpentry, electrical repair and plumbing. The welfare and educational authorities refers potential participants, and we then interview the candidates and choose those that seem most suitable for the project. The project includes empowerment sessions, taught by a professional social worker or group leader, and covers issues such as interpersonal relations, preparation for the work place, taking care of the older population and more.
The two-month training process is followed by ten months in which the youth spend five hours per week using their new skills in elderly individuals’ homes. The young adults are supplied with a basic tool kit upon completion of the training course and receive a basic home fixing certificate at the end of the year. Additionally, the participants attend a weekly cultural enrichment program throughout the program. The young “handymen” receive a stipend of 250 NIS per month for their participation, and a scholarship of 4,000 NIS upon completion.
