Serene Harbor Foundation

11/24/2022

Our winter campaign to help at-risk youth in Israel has started! We are helping to renovate a home for at-risk youth in Israel's north run by the SOS-International Megadim Children's Village.

Please consider donating to repair a home for at-risk youth. This project is to replace a kitchen and a floor.

Follow this link to make your tax-deductible donation:

SOS International-Israel hosts children and youth at risk in… Serene Harbor Foundation Inc. needs your support for Build a home, fix it up for children at risk

07/25/2022

I am happy to report that we are 25% away from meeting our goal to build a therapeutic garden at the Children Village of Horfeish.

Please consider joining our effort and exceed the goal.

To donate, please go to http://www.sereneharborfoundation.com and click on Donate.

Thank you to all the donors to-date, and please consider helping us help the youth at risk in Israel.

07/24/2022

Dear Friends,

As many of you know, a few years ago I helped found the Serene Harbor Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting "the needs of at-risk children and youth in Israel." With your help, we have identified and funded discrete high-impact initiatives that benefit abused, neglected or orphaned children and youth from all parts of Israeli society including Jews, Bedouins, and African refugees. Most recently, we helped build a housing unit in Arad in the south of Israel that houses 8 to 10 teenagers. This is their home, and the wear and tear required our support.

This year, we are focusing our efforts on supporting a unique children's village in Northern Israel - the only village of its kind that serves the Druze people. A minority within a minority, the Druze are "citizens of Israel but not Jewish and ethnically Arab but not Muslim". Children and youth served at Horfeish Children's Village have an exceptionally high graduation rate from high school and, like all Israeli citizens, serve in the army when they turn 18.

When we asked the Horfeish staff how we could help, we learned that they have long wanted to create a therapeutic garden that would support the needs of children and youth of all ages, and at all stages of their development. At-risk children will learn, literally, how to "tend their own garden" as they build lifelong, life-affirming social-emotional skills and confidence.

As always, we performed our own due diligence and determined that the staff's plan to create such a garden is achievable and sustainable.

If you are looking for a way to make a difference, here it is. A donation to Serene Harbor Foundation of any size - truly any size - will literally help "plant the seeds" of a healthy, just future for Israeli youth. And if you've supported other Foundation projects, I hope you will consider an additional gift to help turn another dream into a reality. Donate at https://www.gofundme.com/f/horfeish-children-village or through our web site http://www.sereneharborfoundation.com

Thank you for the opportunity to share this update on the Foundation's work with you. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or would like to learn more about Horfeish Children's Village - the back story of how we got involved is pretty great!

With gratitude,

Yigal Rechtman
Treasurer, Serene Harbor Foundation
[email protected]

Serene Harbor Foundation's mission is to support the needs of at-risk children and youth in Israel

07/03/2022

The children's village in Horfeish, Israel is a haven for abused, neglected or orphaned children. It is unique because, unlike other children's villages in Israel, it is the only one for the Druze people , a minority group in Israel.

Like all Druze in Israel, the graduates of the Children's Village are citizens of Israel, have an exceptionally high graduation rate from high school, and virtually all serve in the Army or perform national service equivalent.

Serene Harbor Foundation's mission is to "support the needs of at-risk children and youth in Israel". In 2021, SHF supported organizations that serviced Israeli Jews, Bedouin, and refugees from Africa. In 2022 we hope to continue the tradition of helping children and youth in Israel, irrespective of their national background, because children are the most vulnerable population and least able to defend themselves in the face of adversity.

This fundraising campaign aims to construct a therapeutical garden. In consultation with the children's village staff in Horfeish, we identified this as a priority need and a realistic objective.

To donate:
https://gofund.me/7819e18e

10/14/2021

Youth villages all around Israel create safe and supportive homes for youth at high-risk. Each child lives in a home, inside a protected village with a 24/7 home-parent who lives in. Currently, these homes have to be repaired and upgraded.

The young people that are being serviced are from all walks of Israeli society regardless of national origin or religion. In a recent visit, we met Jews, Muslim-Arabs, Bedouin (nomads), and children of refugees from Africa. They are from all over, and are treated with respect and restorative services.

The costs of the repair to one home totals about US$10,000 (30,000 Israeli Shekels).
About 66% of the cost is donated.
Our goal is to raise the funds for the remaining $3,000.
A $1,000 matching donation was already made, and about $500 were already pledged, leaving approximately $1,500 of funds to be raised.

Please donate:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/build-a-home-for-youth-at-risk-in-israel

10/14/2021