“I quit my job last year - I was a lawyer in London - thinking about a career change and at the same time I wanted to come to Israel and help with the situation and see what was happening on the ground myself,” he told the JC.
“I reached out to Masa to see if there were any projects to get involved with. This caught my attention - it addresses the mental health system, which was overwhelmed, and it really is. It involves agriculture and tackles it in a new way. It was out of my comfort zone - but you grow, they say.”
Converted shipping containers transformed into therapeutic agricultural spaces[Missing Credit]
A report by Israel’s State Comptroller estimates that around 580,000 people are suffering from severe PTSD symptoms directly related to the attacks, with millions more at risk. More than half of Israelis surveyed say they cannot afford mental health care.
The Growing Project offers a free programme involving 20 therapy sessions over 12 weeks. Participants grow vegetables such as tomatoes and peppers, engage in structured therapy while gardening, and share meals using the produce they’ve grown.
“Both my grandparents were farmers,” Hirschowitz said. “People are suffering with trauma - kids, reservists, people affected by October 7. In the shipping containers, they grow food. Each session they go through therapy while doing something - it’s less formal. And at the end, they eat a meal together.”
The Association for Urban Farming, which has operated in Israel for more than a decade, has worked with clinical psychologists, occupational therapists and trauma specialists to build a model suited for complex war trauma. A pilot project is currently running in Ramat Gan, with plans to expand to 100 mobile “Resilience Centres” nationwide.
Hirschowitz helps coordinate English-speaking volunteers and supports the organisation’s fundraising and communications efforts.
A child using one of the Association for Urban Farming facilities[Missing Credit]
“It gives people a sense of community again – it empowers them to feel that there is life, and a life worth living,” he said. “If you are in a low place, these containers are mobile and put in the centre of the community so people do not need to go far. Over the 12-week programme, slowly, slowly they start to feel like their old selves again.”
The cost of treatment is estimated at $1,000 (£770) per participant and is entirely covered by donations. The organisation is currently fundraising to meet demand from a growing waitlist of trauma survivors.
Hirschowitz said the programme also helps combat stigma around mental health in Israel.
“I’m hopeful it gives people the tools to talk about what they’re going through,” he said. “Grassroots initiatives like this are different from scary hospital environments - and it gets rid of the stigma too.”
“The ambition is 100 shipping containers across Israel. They’ll become community hubs. And it can also help address issues like sustainability and food poverty. I wish for peace - but even when the war ends, Israelis will need this kind of infrastructure.”
One of the volunteers is Josh Hirschowitz, 33, from Stanmore[Missing Credit]