PROJECTS
COFFEE & SMALL TALK
ELEM operates a national network of youth counseling and information centers called Coffee & Small Talk (Hafuch Al Hafuch). The centers offer group and individual counseling, assistance and support. There are 12 centers currently operating throughout Israel. In addition to the professional staff, over 400 volunteers, both adults and youth, work at the centers, which are open five days a week during the afternoon and evening.
Y-ELEM WEBSITE
The Y-ELEM website allow youth to receive reliable and valuable information, assistance and individual and group counseling online – all while remaining anonymous. Trained professionals respond via forum, chatroom, and email. We have connected with 100,000 youth online.
LIGHTHOUSE CENTERS
ELEM operates 13 social-therapeutic centers throughout Israel specifically geared towards diverse cultural groups. These Lighthouse (Migdalor) Centers provide a solution for adolescents who find it difficult to integrate into formal educational institutions. Youth can work on academic studies, practice athletics or music, and attend a variety of workshops on issues of particular interest to them such as forming a rock band. Youth are given the support, space, equipment and time to practice their passion.
OUTREACH VANS
ELEM’s Outreach Vans operate nightly in 18 cities and towns, sweeping through public parks, beaches and entertainment centers, abandoned areas and prostitution haunts where poverty stricken adolescents loiter. Van personnel, both professional and volunteers, offer immediate help to homeless and drifting youth by providing humanitarian aid, informal counseling and referrals to other social services where appropriate.
THE KING'S WAY VOCATIONAL TRAINING
The King’s Way (Derech Hamelech) is a vocational training and mentoring program for approximately 400 youth annually who are are referred to ELEM by Youth Probation Services. Youth are assigned caring adult mentors and are often integrated into a vocational training program or a business or commercial company in the community.
SOMEONE TO RUN WITH
Someone To Run With (Mishehu Larutz I'to) is located in Tel Aviv and serves adolescent and young adults (ages 18 to 25). These young people are often drug-addicted or homeless and wander the streets without knowing how to find help. The project operates a drop-in center that provides humanitarian aid in the form of hot meals, warm clothing, showers, etc. The youth receive assistance in contacting community services and in locating temporary living accommodations in hostels or rented apartments. One day a week the center is open exclusively for young women, so that the specific needs of this population can be addressed more effectively.
THE LIFE RING PROJECT
The Life Ring Project (Galgal) was established in Jerusalem in order to serve adolescents (ages 16-26) who live on the streets severely neglected and totally alienated from society. They are often involved in drug or alcohol abuse or in criminal activities and many are new immigrants from the Former Soviet Union with no family in Israel.
At A Real Home (Bait Amiti), outside of Tel Aviv, ELEM provides services for young women who are victims of incest and/or sexual assault and who need treatment but are not able or willing to take advantage of services offered by the community.
A REAL HOME
LILIYOT RESTAURANT
AWAKE AT NIGHT
Awake At Night (Erem Balayla) is a special program for the prevention of commercial sexual exploitation of minors, a horrific problem that plagues Israel as well as the rest of the world. Youth who are involved in prostitution can come to the day center for a hot meal and to talk to a trained professional. ELEM also staffs a hotline where youth in distress can get immediate help or report a friend in need.
CENTER FOR PREVENTION OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE
ELEM is the only organization in Israel that deals with the issue of sex offenders under the age of legal responsibility, from young children to the age of 18. Established in Tel Aviv, the center conducts diagnostic services and group, individual, and family therapy for young sex offenders and their families. In addition, the center operates a hotline for family members and professionals with questions about sexual behavior and violence. This program has been expanded to various locations throughout Israel.
THE ADI CENTER
ELEM has initiated and developed programs specifically for teenage girls at risk. The Adi Center in Rehovot, a community outpatient center that treats alienated girls, victims of violence and those demonstrating destructive behaviors.
(Hafuch Al Ha-Hof) operates at the town surrounding the Sea of Galilee and in Eilat during the summer to provide youth with counseling and information services. ELEM provides outreach activities during special youth festivals in these areas to provide assistance to youth who are away from their homes.
SMALL TALK ON THE BEACH
The Liliyot Restaurant Project provides detached youth socio-therapeutic treatment in tandem with professional training in the culinary arts. The youth work in a gourmet restaurant and bakery in Tel Aviv and leave the program with a new set of vocational and life skills.