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JDC-ESHEL is a non-profit organization founded and supported by the Israeli government and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. JDC-ESHEL strives to improve the status of the elderly population in Israel, developing conditions and services to guarantee better quality of life for the elderly, and to improve the image of older people to society as a whole.
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Vision and Mission
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In an era of long life expectancies and an increasing percentage of elderly in Israel, JDC-ESHEL's vision is to create a society whose senior citizens enjoy a positive image and a high quality of life. This enables the elderly and their families to be an integral part of society, enjoying effective, accessible and high quality services.
Our mission is to ensure dignity, good health, well being, independence, and active and creative aging for every older person. This is done through planning and developing new and innovative services, and through the improvement of existing services at local, regional and national levels for the elderly in Israel.
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History and Achievements
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JDC-ESHEL was founded in 1969 jointly by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and the Government of Israel in order to develop services for the rapidly expanding elderly population. In the early days of the State of Israel, the elderly population was relatively small, but this segment of the population began to grow rapidly, due to increased life expectancy and a disproportionate percentage of older people among immigrants to Israel, many of whom suffered from health problems.
Since its inception, JDC-ESHEL has transformed the quality of life of the elderly in Israel, building homes for the aged, day care centers, sheltered housing units, and assisting in the establishment of local associations for the elderly, supportive communities, and many programs to enhance the quality of life of the elderly, including health promotion programs, training for thousands of professionals and volunteers, and long range planning.
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Principles of Operation
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JDC-ESHEL does not operate programs directly, but initiates and develops them, turning them over to local or national organizations once they have been established. All activities involve coordination, cooperation and pooling of resources with national and local government bodies and other NGOs dealing with the elderly.
JDC-ESHEL takes a comprehensive approach to the development of programs and services, integrating the health and social needs of the elderly in order to improve their quality of life while stressing the importance of a system-wide impact to insure that these services are available to each elderly person.
All programs strongly emphasize education and training in order to achieve high levels of professionalism.
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Activities
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JDC-ESHEL is involved in all aspects of services for the elderly, including community and institutional services for disabled and mentally frail elderly, housing, warm home programs, employment and volunteer programs, and health promotion programs. The needs of different populations are addressed by adapting programs, for example, for new immigrants from the FSU, and Ethiopia, for the Arab sector and for ultra-orthodox Jews.
JDC-ESHEL publishes books and pamphlets and produces videos, and encourages the use of technology to help the elderly. Training is provided for those who work with the elderly, and planning and evaluation is built into programs.
JDC-ESHEL also works internationally, providing technical assistance and advice to help the elderly throughout the world.
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Resources
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JDC-ESHEL's programs receive funding through JDC-Israel, the Government of Israel, the National Insurance Institute, the Claims Conference, the National Lottery Corporation, local authorities, and Foundations.
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