The Rebecca Sieff WIZO Centre for the Family
WIZO aims to ensure that Israeli children, regardless of where they live or their socio-economic backgrounds, receive an equal start in life.
The Rebecca Sieff WIZO Centre for the Family, formerly the Jerusalem Baby Home, is the jewel in the WIZO.uk crown, celebrating its 50th anniversary in May 2005.
Our Flagship Project: The Rebecca Sieff WIZO Centre for the Family
The Rebecca Sieff WIZO Centre for the Family is the former Jerusalem Baby Home which was established in 1924 in Sha'arei Chesed by legendary pediatric pioneer Dr Helena Kagan. Her goal was to create a home for all the abandoned children who survived the war.
Over the years, the Baby Home wandered from neighbourhood to neighbourhood until the two large buildings at the current location in the Beit Hakerem district were completed in May 1955.
The Baby Home was built with the generous support of the Federation of Women Zionists (now WIZO.uk) and became the first home for abandoned and convalescing children, immigrant children and children who suffered from polio, asthma and orthopaedic problems. It also contained a day care centre and three kindergartens, a mother and child centre, summer camps and the Rosa Wollstein school for nursery nurses.
In 1975 it was decided to adapt to the changing needs of the times. A new modern day care centre was opened which offered its services to hundreds of families in the neighbourhood. The nursing school was closed and became the Beit Hakerem Vocational School, a centre for training teenage girls.
In the coming years, activities at the centre expanded still further to cover the needs of the entire community, from toddlers to senior citizens and in 1997, the name was officially changed to the WIZO Rebecca Sieff Centre for the Family in honour of the founding president of WIZO.uk and World WIZO.
Today the centre represents a microcosm of the social welfare and educational work WIZO undertakes at its 800 projects throughout Israel. It boasts the largest day care centre in Europe, looking after 300 toddlers and children. Under the able guidance of director Penina Geffen, it runs a school for teenagers with learning difficulties and behavioural problems, providing vocational training and creative therapy to over 100 students. Annual education courses provide certificates in office work, hairdressing and childcare.
The centre also offers a family counselling service and a facility for the prevention and treatment of domestic violence. While WIZO is able to provide shelter for women seeking refuge, here, as in a number of similar centres, the focus is on intervening in the home and resolving crisis situations, not least by helping men overcome their aggression.
In 2005 WIZO.uk raised over £110,000 for its Golden Anniversary fund. Proceeds will guarantee the continuity of WIZO's innovative educational programmes for 450 young people each day, 120 of whom have special needs.
In all, WIZO.uk sponsors around one hundred WIZO projects in Israel, currently co-funded with the government throughout the country.
