JEWISH NATIONAL FUND COMPLETES 1,000TH NEW HOME SITE AMID ROCKET ATTACKS
With More than 450 Rockets Unleashed into Southern Israel since Monday, JNF is Building New Homes While Terrorists Destroy; Help Raise Money for Victims of Latest Round of Terror
In total, 19 communities in Israel have benefited from Jewish National Fund-USA’s Housing Development Fund, which fast tracks housing construction with a revolving fund. Along the Gaza Envelope where 50,000 Israelis live, Jewish National Fund has developed new housing units, sites and infrastructure in the communities of Kissufim, Holit, B’nei Netzarim, Nachal-Oz, Erez, and Sderot. The construction will eventually provide 5,000 residents new housing. Overall some 900 new jobs have been created as part of the building including contractors, engineers, laborers, electricians, plumbers, etc.
Avi and his wife and two children recently took ownership of a new 3-bedroom, 2-bath, 2,000 square- foot home about one mile from the Gaza border and credited Jewish National Fund for changing their lives: “Without JNF and the Housing Fund we could not afford to move here and have this beautiful home where we will raise our children. Regardless of what the other side does, we live here in peace, and focus on our family and the community. They look to destroy, we came here to live.”
Jewish National Fund-USA is also raising funds during the latest escalation of terrorism and indiscriminate violence for much-needed bomb shelters and trauma resilience centers, which are similar to therapy clinics and help children and victims of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) with a variety of clinical treatments including animal therapy. Since March, Jewish National Fund’s campaign has supported the communities affected by terrorism. Donors are encouraged to visit www.jnf.org/gazaenvelope to contribute. Additionally, Jewish National Fund-USA is leading the “Supreme Kibbutz Makeover” at Kibbutz Kerem Shalom-Vineyard of Peace, which is located only 30 yards from the Gaza border and home to 30 families and 100 children.
As hostilities continue and Red Alert sirens are heard as far as the Dead Sea region, JNF and its partners in Israel have opened their homes and hearts to residents of the Gaza Envelope seeking respite. To help cope with the effects of PTSD, Jewish National Fund-USA partner Red Mountain Therapeutic Riding Center in the Southern Israel region along the Jordanian border is providing horse therapy free of charge to those in need. At Timna Valley National Park, a Jewish National Fund partner and historic site, residents affected by the rocket and mortar attacks are welcome to camp out and unwind in the serenity of nature.
Helping individuals in harm’s way in Israel is not new for Jewish National Fund-USA. In August 2018, Jewish National Fund led a national campaign in the United States to draw attention to the ongoing terrorism bringing several Israelis to the U.S. to put their voices to the headlines and share their personal stories of living along the Gaza border, where hundreds of incendiary kites, balloons, and rockets have steadily rained down on them for months. More than 3,000 Americans attended 11 events in cities across the U.S. and heard the Israelis share how terrorism from Gaza destroyed nearly 10,000 acres of agricultural land and forests in Israel, wiping out the main source of income for many in the region, as well as the impact on the mental wellbeing on their families and children having to be confined to bomb shelters.