Disabilities charity's secrets of success - The Jewish Chronicle

Cultural stigmas and a lack of access can stop Arab Israeli families who have children with disabilities from receiving the help they need, but a Jewish charity is fighting to change that.

Jean Judes, chief executive of Beit Issie Shapiro (BIS), Israel’s leading provider of services for those with disabilities, believes every child has the right to early intervention.

Speaking during a visit to London this month to highlight the charity’s work, Mrs Judes said substantial improvements had been made in the past 15 years.

She told the JC: “It was very stigmatising to have a child with a disability. Families carried great shame about it, and they felt as if it compromised them, especially when it came to marriage.”

In 2001 BIS opened the first early intervention centre in Qalansuwa, an Arab town east of Netanya, as well as the first family support centre in the region. "It has helped to create over 100 centres across Israel".

Mrs Judes explained: “A lot of the services in Israel are in Hebrew and that can be a big barrier to access for Arab families. We have changed that by providing services in Arabic.

“If you have a baby with a severe disability, the baby should learn in the mother tongue because they are likely to have problems with language as it is.

“A lot of the Arab mums don’t speak Hebrew, so they can’t access the sort of services they need.”

Mrs Judes, who was in Britain to share her expertise and visit Jewish disability charities, said the centre in Qalansuwa had been such a success that BIS had been given land by the municipality to build another one in order to accommodate more children.

“It shows they see us as close partners,” she said. But it has not always been easy convincing Arab communities to trust the Jewish organisation, which operates in the UK through its fundraising arm, UK Friends of BIS.

“When we started we had to do tremendous amounts of outreach,” Mrs Judes explained. “We had to think about how we find families and how we find the practitioners who speak Arabic.”

Today BIS employs 50 Arabic-speaking women in its family support centre and is the largest employer of women in the town.

“We are not only helping the children and their families but we are providing women with high-level jobs.”

Mrs Judes, who represents Israel on disabilities matters the United Nations, said the charity’s work had managed to bring Jewish and Arab families together in times of tension. “A lot of our staff members have families living in Gaza or the West Bank, so obviously it affects them when there is a conflict. It can be very complicated.

“We have to talk openly about it and everyone should be able to say what they are thinking and feeling. That is what has cemented the feeling of friendships that we have with the Arab community.”

“When you have a child with a disability at first all you care about is getting the best services for your child,” Mrs Judes said. “Everything else comes afterwards, when you are fighting together, Israeli and Arab, for the rights of your kids, you can’t help but become firm friends.”

To find out more visit http://en.beitissie.org.il/