2007 Budget Proposal January 2007 English

‫הסוכנות היהודית לארץ ישראל‬ The Jewish Agency for Israel

Israeli Steering Committee recommendation for 2007 Budget Project Name:

STATUS:

Budget for 2007:

Regional Development Sphere: Beer-Sheva: Community Building Summer Activities for Welfare kids Advancement of Employment Excellence in Education (Karev) Total Beer-Sheva

Continuing Continuing New Continuing

30,000 30,000 24,000 20,000 104,000

Continuing Continuing New New

25,000 15,000 14,000 9,000 63,000

Continuing Continuing

70,000 33,000 103,000

Bnei-Shimon: Community Building Youth at Risk Employment Project Community Mediation Total Bnei-Shimon

Beer-Sheva and Bnei-Shimon Excellence in Education Community Projects (NGO) Total Bnei-Shimon and Beer-Sheva Total of Regional Development Sphere Total of People to People (P2P) Sphere

261,000 395,000 656,000

Total P2K Budget

Remarks:  The P2K Teum Forum approved the 2007 budget for the continuing projects in a conference call on December 19 2006.  The P2K Teum Forum approved the 2007 budget for the P2P project in a conference call on December 19 2006.  The Joint Steering Committee still needs to discuss how to allocate $ 80,000 left, following the above P2K Teum Forum's decisions on December 19 2006.  Bnei-Shimon decided to withdraw their "Community Mediation" Project Card.  Budget items to be discussed in the January 22 budget session: Two new Employment Project Cards Community Projects (NGO) Budget for Magshimim

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COMMUNITY BUILDING (WARM HOMES) PROJECT OPERATING BODY: Mahar Association RESPONSIBLE AGENCY: Beer-Sheva Municipal Social Services Department STATUS: Continuing BUDGET REQUESTED: $30,000 PROJECT DESCRIPTION: The project aims at developing a social-geographic network in local neighborhoods by setting up support groups in private homes, seeking to form a supportive social network whose members are involved in a cohesive and reinforced community, thereby leading to the emergence of local leadership that will promote and represent the interests of the respective groups.

NEEDS TO WHICH THE PROJECT RESPONDS: Reinforcing the local social fabric and providing tools for strengthening social integration, and improving the everyday functioning of young families in areas like: Education, Parenting, Aliyah, Integration into the community and Communal enhancement. In the year 2005, nine homes were opened in Beer-Sheva, which serve as a social support system.

COMPATIBILITY WITH PARTNERSHIP 2000 OBJECTIVES  Reinforcing the local community/social structure.  Integrating immigrants in society as a whole.  Empowering local residents for personal and social activity.

TARGET POPULATION :  Immigrant and veteran Israeli families from all Beer-Sheva neighborhoods.

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BUDGET (In NIS) Description

Formula

Total

Partnership 2000 Budget

Ongoing self-help group workshops for hosts and staff

Continued provision of professional tools for hosts to enable group leadership, formulation of common objectives and representation of interests. Each 2½-hour session includes a lecture, guidance or activity and refreshments.

8 sessions x NIS 550 (2.5 hours each session)

4,400

4,000

Workshops for five new groups hosts

To op[en five new homes and parents guidance

5 groups * 14 sessions * 2 hours per session * 172

12,040

11,000

Preliminary workshop for volunteers at new homes

Enhancement and strengthening of the leaders of the new groups

10 sessions * 2hours per session * 550

5,500

5,000

Routine maintenance

Ongoing operating expenses: Refreshments, equipment and activities.

12 homes * 230 *12 months

33,120

33,120

3,260

3,000

Activity

Miscellaneous and office expenses Personnel

Project Coordinator- Social Worker 3500 * 40 % position * 12 months

42,000

42,000

Coordinator

2000 * 40% position * 12 months

24,000

24,000

5,435

5,435

131,935

129,935

Overhead Total Total in Dollars

$ 30,000

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SUMMER ACTIVITIES FOR WELFARE CHILDREN PROJECT OPERATING BODY: Beer-Sheva Municipal Social Services Department RESPONSIBLE AGENCY: Beer-Sheva Municipal Social Services Department STATUS: Continuing BUDGET REQUESTED: $30,000 PROJECT DESCRIPTION: Children under Social Services Department care and those in distress do not attend summer camps, primarily because their families are in dire financial straits. Camps are a significant preventive factor that helps keep children from loitering and provides appropriate and positive response to their needs. Moreover, camps supply beneficial experiences for children from immigrant and/or needy families. Over the past few years, such children have been placed in regular municipal camps rather than separate ones, according them a sense of normalcy and a positive self-image and eliminating stigmas. NEEDS TO WHICH THE PROJECT RESPONDS:  Children need activity and supervision during summer vacation.  Preventing loitering and delinquency.  Improving children’s self-image.  Improving children’s quality of life.  Enabling parents, especially single parents, to work normally during summer vacation. COMPATIBILITY WITH PARTNERSHIP 2000 OBJECTIVES Helping and empowering special population groups – youth at-risk. TARGET POPULATION: Youth at risk ages 6-13 citizens of Beer-Sheva PARTNERS: Ministry of Welfare, Ministry of Educations, Beer-Sheva Educations departments, Beer-Sheva Social Services Department, JDC, Pact, Sacta-Rashi, Kivunim leisure and cultural Company, and parents participation. BUDGET: $ 30,000 $ 100 subsidy for one participant * 300 participants= $ 30,000 5

ADVANCMENT OF EMPLOYMENT PROJECT OPERATING BODY: Beer-Sheva Municipal Social Services Department RESPONSIBLE AGENCY: Beer-Sheva Municipal Social Services Department STATUS: NEW BUDGET REQUESTED: $ 24,000 PROJECT DESCRIPTION: In the last few years, the project functioned in two levels: 1. "Marvelous Women" project for single mothers. 2. Program for immigrants from the Caucasus and Ethiopia – financed by JDC-Israel. The Employment Advancement Project helps immigrant men and women from the Former Soviet Union – as well as veteran Israelis join the work force. The project involving participants in a three-stage work model: 1. Recruiting and Screening Participants. 2. Group and Individual Work with the Target Population A. Group Workshop  Social cohesion and definition of employment objectives and goals.  Acquisition of practical job-seeking tools.  Participants interested in vocational training will be referred to appropriate studies for optimal job placement.  Empowerment enabling participants to advance from confusion and passivity to assumption of personal responsibility for their private and professional lives. B. Individual Work Project participants will be supervised individually by the Project Coordinator, who will provide personal support and reinforcement and help them achieve the goals and objectives that they set for themselves. 3. Job Placement The project staff will help participants find jobs and broker between participants and potential employers. 4. Job Club At the end of the workshop, a Job Club will be set up, offering group supervision and support for working participants and those at various stages of realizing their employment goals. 5. An Information Center, operated by specially-trained volunteers will be in operation throughout the project, providing men and women with information about work-related rights. NEEDS TO WHICH THE PROJECT RESPONDS:  The workshop and Information Center provide information regarding rights and job-seeking methods.  Group participation achieves cooperation and partnership and eases the sense of isolation and alienation from which many unemployed persons suffer.  Tools and skills acquired through the project intensify participants’ competence and belief in their ability to effect a change in their lives and find a job.  Group and individual processes help locate and address factors that impede employment and enable participants to tap natural support forces and systems. 6

 Job placement responds to the essential need for a fixed income, enabling to support themselves and their families respectably and to advance from dependence on state agencies and stipends to financial self-sufficiency. COMPATIBILITY WITH PARTNERSHIP 2000 OBJECTIVES:  

 

The project will help develop human capital at the individual level, with implications for the local level as well. The project conforms with the Government Ministry trend towards overcoming unemployment problems, cooperating with government agencies in terms of budget assistance and common objectives. Assistance to and empowerment of special population groups. Expanding activities by business persons on behalf of the community (Friendly Employer, etc.).

TARGET POPULATION: The project’s target population consists of both men and women, veteran Israelis and new immigrants from the Former Soviet Union. BUDGET: Activity

Description

Personnel

Community Social Worker

Personnel

Neighborhood Worker

WorkshopsSocial Activities for families Marketing

Formula

Salary for Workshops

Partnership 2000 Budget

$ 1,666 * 50% * 12

10,000

$ 833 * 50% * 12

5,000 2,500

Leaders 2 activities for program participants and their

2,500

children Marketing program in the

1,000

community

Office expenses

2,000

and overhead Miscellaneous

1,000

Total:

$ 24,000

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COMMUNITY-BUILDING BNEI SHIMON OPERATING BODY: Bnei Shimon Regional Council RESPONSIBLE OFFICIAL: Sigal Moran BUDGET REQUESTED: $25,000 PROJECT DESCRIPTION: Development of physical infrastructures for residences, employment and transportation constitutes a necessary but not a sufficient condition for sustaining new residents. To attract new families (from Israel and the rest of the world) and prepare for their arrival, it is of primary importance to reinforce urban and rural communities and provide tools for development and empowerment of local leadership, thereby readying communities for the influx of new residents. Believing in the importance of community procedures as a condition for continuity, the Regional Council developed models for supervision of these processes at its component localities, each in accordance with its needs, carried out by the relevant professionals and led by a specially-hired expert with extensive administrative experience in this field. COMPATIBILITY WITH PARTNERSHIP 2000 OBJECTIVES As part of its efforts to reinforce localities and increase their population, the Regional Council is investing extensive resources in supervising community procedures through which local residents are provided with tools to address the challenges they face and work together to build a community infrastructure for a revitalized community comprising veteran and new residents. The objective of settling and strengthening the Negev is one of the most significant missions that the State of Israel and the Jewish People face at present. The Beersheva–Bnei Shimon – Montreal partnership’s strategic plan also defines this objective as central. Consequently, it is only natural that a project of this type should be supported by the partnership. COUNCIL ACTIVITIES The Regional Council defined four spheres of community-building activity: 1.

Community processes for absorption of new residents in community expansion programs.

2.

Assessment and adaptation of kibbutz lifestyles.

3.

Achieving consensus within the community.

4.

Developing community master plans.

The first stage of all community processes consists of revising the community vision, in cooperation with most local residents. In subsequent stages, work teams are assembled to tackle 8

pending assignments by learning about the issues and formulating proposals for public discussion and decision. All Bnei Shimon localities are undergoing a process of change that demands reassessment of all components of local life. In all processes that it supervises, the Regional Council strongly emphasizes community-building, believing that suitable building of the community and adapting it to changing realities will guarantee the future. During 2006, community processes will take place through the project at 5-6 Bnei Shimon localities. METHODS  Joint Regional Council-locality teams will be set up to conduct these processes, each headed by a local coordinator.  Each team will consist of three Regional Council representatives, one local representative and a professional consultant.  Appointment of a coordinator and local team by the relevant localities constitutes a condition for participating in the process. STAGES OF PROGRESS  The community administration and/or local secretariat will define issues and make decisions regarding Regional Council participation.  Appointment of coordinators and local teams.  Convening members’ meetings to approve Regional Council involvement.  Selecting a consultant and formulating the proposed process.  Convening a members’ meeting to approve the process. BUDGET ($) Activity Director’s salary Total

Partnership 2000 Budget

Other Sources

Formula

Total

$3,555 x 12 months

42,660

25,000

17,660

42,660

25,000

17,660

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YOUTH AT RISK PROJECT OPERATING BODY: Bnei Shimon Regional Council RESPONSIBLE OFFICIAL: Sigal Moran BUDGET REQUESTED: $15,000 COMPATIBILITY WITH PARTNERSHIP 2000 OBJECTIVES: Over the past few years, kibbutzim and moshavim in the Bnei Shimon Region have undergone far-reaching changes in lifestyle, mutual responsibility and social cohesion. These value changes took certain responsibilities from the community responsibility and delegated them to individuals, including greater parental responsibility for children’s education, thereby also changing the role of the educational system in young people’s lives. Receptivity of rural areas to the surrounding society has a positive side, but also exposes rural residents, especially youth, to problematic patterns and norms. During the period under review, two new communities were established in the Region – Givat Bar and Atzmona/Shomriya. Both are characterized by substantive changes in family lifestyle and environment, engendering numerous problems among youth, such as difficulty gaining acceptance and failure to integrate within the educational system and the community as a whole. Reinforcement and empowerment of the adolescent population at these localities, to be achieved by narrowing social and scholastic gaps, developing leadership and fostering attachment to society and the community, will exert a direct effect on the stamina of the community and the individuals who comprise it. As such the project will contribute directly to reinforcement of the Negev and empowerment of its residents. OVERALL OBJECTIVE Limiting risk situations among youth, improving their personal, social and scholastic functioning, reinforcing ties between participating adolescents and their peers and the community and improving relations between them and their parents. PROJECT OBJECTIVES AND GOALS This systemic intervention project relates to various spheres of adolescent life and aims at effecting change in each (youngsters themselves, their families, schools and the community): 1.

Individuals: Helping all participants define themselves and achieve personal functional objectives in various spheres of contact according to their abilities and personal pace of progress. Achievement of these objectives may improve personal security and self-worth and minimize the risk situations observed.

2.

Schools: Close cooperation between program staff and schools in developing personal programs suiting the needs, abilities and powers of each participant, with constant attention to their scholastic and emotional situation; improving scholastic performance and dissuading youngsters from dropping out of school.

3.

Family: Improving parenting skills – Helping parents assume appropriate responsibility, limiting feelings of helplessness and dysfunction, enabling them to accept and control their children while setting limits from a position of authority. Parents will participate regularly in weekly guidance sessions, play an active role in development the school curriculum, monitor program implementation and become full and active partners in various aspects of program activity. 10

4.

Community  Community involvement in the program – The practical program will be planned according to a rationale developed in cooperation with the community, adapted to its cultural norms and ensuring community involvement and responsibility at an early stage.  Participants’ involvement in the community through integration in activities intended for their age group.

DETAILED PROJECT ACTIVITY 1.

The program counselor will meet with each participant individually to develop personal programs based on definition of individual assignments, supervise participants as they carry out these assignments and involve them in assessing progress and facilitate participants’ integration in overall kibbutz youth activities. Individual program development will also consider the involvement and supervision of additional professionals (caseworkers and social workers).

2.

A personal curriculum will be drawn up for each participating youth, in cooperation with schools, with group responses developed as common needs are identified.

3.

Tutoring will be offered according to a schedule determined in cooperation with schools.

4.

Parents will participate in regular professional individual and group guidance.

5.

A program steering team comprising community representatives will be established.

BUDGET REQUESTED (NIS) Item Salary: Tutor Salary: Youth Counselor Total

Details 12 x NIS 5,000 12 x NIS 5,500

Total Expenditure 60,000 66,000 NIS 126,000

SOURCES OF FINANCING ($) Source Partnership 2000 Bnei Shimon Regional Council Total

Amount 14,000 8,000 $22,000

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EMPLOYMENT FOR THE RURAL SECTOR OPERATING BODY: Bnei Shimon Regional Council RESPONSIBLE OFFICIAL: Sigal Moran TOTAL BUDGET REQUESTED: $14,000 PROJECT DESCRIPTION RATIONALE Negev development includes attraction of stronger population groups from Israel and elsewhere to move into the Region and accelerate its economy. Numerous surveys have shown clearly that education and employment are two key factors in family decision-making concerning selection of a place of residence. We are now facing the formidable challenge of encouraging young people to remain in the Region and attracting new population groups, to be accomplished by developing employment opportunities and helping people find jobs. BACKGROUND It’s a known secret that job-seekers find work primarily through personal ties. Obviously, such ties may help open doors, but without the necessary skills and abilities, they have no substantive effect. Over the past two decades, the rural sector has undergone economic and community crises induced primarily by loss of livelihood and a lack of confidence in the economy. Local residents have had to introduce radical changes in their livelihoods in terms of conception and work force integration, but even these changes cannot guarantee that kibbutz and moshav residents will find outside jobs successfully. Numerous barriers stand in the way, such as advanced age, inappropriate occupational background, mobility constraints, dispersal of unemploymentintensive areas and more. This project seeks to create job networks among employers in the Region and develop programs providing job-seekers with tools and skills that facilitate their integration in the work force. The core of program activity is the “employment solidarity” conception, that aims at fostering commitment and support among all relevant bodies in the Region, including employers, thereby advancing local livelihoods and employment opportunities. The project forms ties with employers in the Region and develops awareness of employment solidarity – a vital element of job-seeking and creation. It perceives the rural community as a resource to be tapped for the benefit of individuals and proposes a concept based on the community–employment conception, strengthening communities and the individuals that comprise them. SPHERES OF ACTIVITY 1.

Individuals: Setting up a computerized database for job-seekers and employers; regularly publicizing available positions at all localities in the Region; supervising, guiding and studying the job-seeking process; referral for professional guidance and consultation; referral to and initiation of vocational training programs, workshops and job integration courses; promoting enterprises and assisting entrepreneurs. 12

2.

Localities: Training part-time officials at each locality to serve as an initial address for jobseekers and to link them with employers and/or agencies catering to individuals. Wherever possible, these officials should be local residents familiar with the Region and its population who, with appropriate training and supervision, are capable of providing professional and reliable solutions for job-seekers.

3.

Region: Developing employment solidarity among business owners in the Region and linking with other Regions; coordinating job information for functionaries; launching local employment projects; linking localities with one another; links with Government agencies; setting up and supervising HR units at kibbutzim and setting up and operating field annexes at Moshavim.

PROJECT OBJECTIVES  Helping new residents find and adjust to jobs, facilitating their integration in the Region.  Increasing the number of persons in the northern Negev employed outside the rural sector and improving the economic situation of individuals and communities.  Fostering employment solidarity among employers in the Region and informing them of employment problems in the northern Negev.  Improving job adaptability among individuals in the northern Negev rural sector.  Improving community and regional capabilities for dealing with employment-related issues.  Strengthening communities economically and reinforcing their ability to supply social services for their residents.  Improving family and community quality of life. GOALS AND METHODS 1.

Setting up an organizational infrastructure for administration of an integrated system of individual, locality-specific and regionwide work, based on the special features of the structure and residents of each community.

2.

Mapping, compiling and developing a regularly updated employer/job database.

3.

Providing local residents with special training for jobs in the Region that lack qualified personnel.

4.

Developing awareness and fostering job solidarity among all employers in the Region; planning job channels in cooperation with employers; developing, preserving and handling ties with employers; harnessing and reinforcing employer resources.

5.

Increasing the number of jobs in the database; varying jobs according to job-seekers’ employment profiles. BUDGET REQUESTED ($) Item Salary: Officials Total

Details $630/month x 3 officials

Total Expenditure 22,680 $22,680

SOURCES OF FINANCING ($) Source Partnership 2000 Bnei Shimon Regional Council Total

Amount 14,000 8,680 $22,680 13

COMMUNITY MEDIATION OPERATING BODY: Bnei Shimon Regional Council RESPONSIBLE OFFICIAL: Sigal Moran TOTAL BUDGET REQUESTED: $9,000 OBJECTIVE Studying and teaching conflict resolution methods throughout Bnei Shimon, thereby creating a comfortable climate for dialogue, intensifying social cohesion and community involvement and enabling local residents to continue living together and form a strong and cohesive community. BACKGROUND What is Mediation? Mediation is a voluntary and confidential process based on mutual respect and cooperation between parties. The process enables thorough attention to all aspects of a conflict, including its human and emotional aspects. The parties have the right to terminate mediation at any stage. Mediation achieves dialogue, agreements and solutions between parties in all types of negotiations, disagreements or conflicts. Resolving a conflict by agreement enables the parties to continue living together after an appropriate solution is formulated that guards the parties’ rights and enables continued normal relations within the community. Mediation involves negotiating through a mediator, who helps the two parties reach an understanding of each other’s interests and find solutions acceptable to both. Behind the techniques of mediation is a conception calling for dialogue as the best means of solving differences between people, with the mediator selected to be a third, neutral and unbiased party to assist the other parties and maximize their benefit, improving relations between them. Assistance is tendered while providing suitable opportunity for each side to present its position in the conflict and hear the other side. The mediator also helps the parties identify their common interests and map out a mutually acceptable solution. The conception that favors dialogue also assumes that the earlier we begin to internalize this conception, the better. The Bnei Shimon Community Mediation Center has taken responsibility for introducing mediation language in various local institutions, including schools and educational teams. BNEI SHIMON COMMUNITY MEDIATION CENTER The Bnei Shimon Community Mediation Center was set up in recognition and understanding of the complex processes that localities and residents have undergone over the past decade, 14

embodying changes in lifestyle, reorganization of interpersonal relations and the influx of new population groups, that may entail numerous and intricate conflicts. The Mediation Center faces the challenge of creating an alternative culture for coping with conflicts and a foundation for conducting a different kind of dialogue. The Center mediates between and assists parties by creating a framework that fosters attentiveness and direct and relevant communication for formulation of an agreement acceptable to both parties and responsive to their respective needs. Mediation allows for win-win rather than win-lose results in conflict resolution. In 2007, the Center’s primary purpose will be development of special programs to introduce and internalize mediation language and processes of dialogue and community-building between new and veteran residents at the various localities. Community dialogue is highly beneficial for individuals and the community itself. The parties resolve practical and sensitive issues through dialogue, each completing the process with maximum benefit and proceeding along a new path, thereby contributing directly to normal community functioning throughout the Region. It is important to note that most mediators at the Center are local residents specially trained for this purpose. All except for the Director perform their jobs voluntarily as part of their contribution to the community. WORLDWIDE MEDIATION CONFERENCE IN THE NEGEV A worldwide mediation conference takes place every two years, attended by mediators from all around the world. The last conference, conducted in Switzerland, hosted delegations comprising 750 persons from 50 different countries on five continents and featured national, municipal, rural and individual projects. Next year, the conference will be held in Israel, right here in the Negev, hosted by Negev Mediation Centers in Beersheva, Bnei Shimon and Lehavim. The conference offers a golden opportunity to introduce the Negev and link with the rest of the world. The theme will be Mediation in a Multicultural Spectrum, presenting the Negev as an example of multiculturalism. Our goal is to introduce the Region to mediators from all over the world, familiarizing them with the different cultures living side by side in the Negev, thereby reinforcing the Negev’s status. Bnei Shimon mediators are leading the team preparing for the conference. COMMUNITY MEDIATION CENTER OBJECTIVES  Community Development: Imparting skills for management and resolution of conflicts in the community through mediation.  Workshops to introduce and internalize mediation concepts and language among rank and file residents and functionaries.  Providing local residents with professional mediation services. 15

 Publicizing and internalizing mediation language among all kindergartens and schools in the Region.  Partnership in planning, organizing and hosting the worldwide mediators’ conference in the Negev. PROGRAMS PLANNED AT THE CENTER Goals

Missions/Activities

Community Development: Developing community conflict management and resolution skills – internalization, exposure and training

Marketing activity at all localities in the Region. Introductory workshop for local community and business functionaries, focusing on community dialogue and multi-participant and group conflict resolution. Regional mediation study sessions for elementary school students throughout the Region.

Publicizing and internalizing mediation language as an everyday tool at schools and kindergartens

Opening mediation workshops at elementary schools. Opening mediation workshops at junior and senior high schools (Mevo’ot Hanegev and Eshel Hanasi). Offering a mediation course for kindergarten teachers and developing a special mediation program for kindergartens, in cooperation with parents.

Providing conflict resolution services for communities in businesses and elsewhere – handling conflicts from a broad and comprehensive point of view

Continued development and professionalization of the Center; assisting with educational, social and family programs

Publicizing the Center among Regional Council officials. Participation in the worldwide mediation conference in the Negev. Developing mediation programs for localities undergoing expansion. Regional seminar on community mediation for the general public exposed to mediation culture throughout the Region and elsewhere. Study session for mediators once every two months. Supervising and guiding mediation procedures.

BUDGET REQUESTED ($) Item Salary: Center Director Professional Consultation

Cost 12 x $900 = $10,800 50 hours * $50/hour = $2,500

Total

Details Part-time position Guiding workshops and professional training for mediators

$13,300

SOURCES OF FINANCING ($) Source Bnei Shimon Regional Council

Amount 4,300

Partnership 2000 Total

9,000 $13,300 16

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ENCOURAGING EXCELLENCE IN EDUCATION BEERSHEVA–BNEI SHIMON OPERATING BODY: CRB Foundation RESPONSIBLE AGENCY: JAFI STATUS: Continuing BUDGET REQUESTED: $ 70,000 (+ additional $ 20,000 for Beer-Sheva) PROJECT DESCRIPTION This program aims at narrowing gaps in education and promoting equal opportunities in Israeli society through enrichment and empowerment activities in the educational system. Thanks to the assistance of the Montreal Community and Partnership 2000, the program was expanded as of the 2004/05 school year to cover 62 kindergartens and elementary schools (Gevim and Reut) in Beersheva and all kindergartens and two elementary schools in Bnei Shimon (Hatzerim and Mevo’ot Hanegev). The program constitutes significant reinforcement of educational programs, with emphasis on language, enrichment, creativity and thinking skill development. Electives include English, science, music, art, chess, etc. In the 2004/05 school year, the Montreal Community allocated $265,000 for the program and undertook to provide an equal amount annually to finance programs over the next two years. Partnership 2000 allocated a budget surplus of $18,000 to the program in 2004 and another $30,000 in 2005. The Israeli coordinating committee decided to accord priority to financing this program in 2006, recommending that most budget surpluses of programs concluding their long-term financing be allocated to the Excellence in Education Program. BUDGET REQUESTED: $ 70,000 for Beer-Sheva and Bnei-Shimon $ 20,000 additional budget for Beer-Sheva schools.

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COMMUNITY PROJECTS (NGO) OPERATING BODY: JAFI RESPONSIBLE OFFICIAL: Regional Manager STATUS: Continuing BUDGET REQUESTED: $33,000 PROJECT DESCRIPTION: As part of Partnership 2000’s strategic trend to intensify ties with leading agencies in the Region, the partnership allocated more than $ 50,000 in the last two years to grassroots organizations that introduce change, seeking to examine options for future partnership with these organizations. Organizations supported by the P2K were:  The Bnei Shimon Association for the Elderly  Maslan (Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel)  Beer Sova  The Or Movement  The Ami association- occupational therapy at Geva Kennels for Beit-Cohen residents.  Shiluv Leadership institute of the Negev  Yachdav NGO works with Youth in distress and with drug addicted Parents and Their Children  The Noam NGO works with children from violent homes. New Organizations requesting grants from the Partnership 2007 budget are: Sheva, Almaya, Maslan and Society for Nature. Three organizations who received funds I 2006 receipts are asking for funds for 2007: The Yachdav and the Noam NGO's are asking additional funds for the year 2007. A detailed list of the new and existing proposals is in the work. The Montreal Community will examine options for expansion and intensification of ties with the organizations and NGOs selected for this project above and beyond the nominal Partnership 2000 allocation.

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OBJECTIVES 1.

Expanding the circle of involvement in Partnership 2000, focusing on innovative NGOs that lead processes of change in the Region.

2.

Encouragement and development of social initiatives in the Region.

3.

Raising resources among business persons and the community alongside Partnership 2000 involvement in the relevant organizations.

4.

Including NGO activity in Partnership 2000 volunteer work, delegations, business programs and various leadership groups.

OPERATIVE GOALS 1.

Assisting innovative NGOs in the Region by providing seed money with potential for expansion.

2.

Formulating a joint program for Partnership 2000 and selected NGOs that responds to the former’s strategic goals.

METHODS: The Partnership 2000 Joint Steering Committee will select the projects- identified by the partnership as conducive to change and compatible with Partnership 2000 objectives. BUDGET: Allocation of $33,000 to four or five programs and organizations.

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2006 Project Card: Proposal for P2P programs and Exchange of Delegations This project card includes all the initiatives and activities planned in the People-to-People ("Gesher Chai") sphere of Beer-Sheva-Bnei-Shimon-Montreal Partnership. Putting all P2P programs and delegations in the same Partnership budget line- enables us to be flexible and to respond to changing needs during the year of operation. This proposal represents all requests that were presented to the IPAC Committee in Montreal and to the Israeli P2P Sub-Committee and we bring it for discussion. The P2K Joint Steering Committee will make the final decisions in a video conference in December 2007.

In American Dollars: Name of project or delegation

Israeli P2P Recommendation

Details:

Management and personnel: P2P Coordinator: Services for Steering Committee

30,000 20,000

P2K Office 5,000

A full time coordinator position to operate all P2P activities This budget is used for all aspects of the operation of the Partnership e.g.: Translations, Expenses for Steering Committee meetings etc. Maintenance and expenses of P2P office in the teacher center including: participating in security fees, electricity, conference calls payments etc.

Delegation from Montreal: BIEC: 60,000

CSUQ: 35,000

CAMPAIGN:

21,000

Mifgash: $ 75 per day in the region Machnaim: 35 participants from Montreal 10 from the region Shorashim: 80 participants from Montreal 20 from the region Lehava: 30 participants from Montreal 10 from the region Dorot: 50 participants from Montreal 15 from the region March of the Living: 250 participants for one day= $ 2,500 Yachad- 32 participants from Montreal 10 from the region. Yavne: 22 participants from Montreal 8 from the region Volunteers: It is going to be the Sixth year that Volunteers Mission will come to the region in November for five days program of volunteering in NGO's, sightseeing and helping the region in times of needs. 35 volunteers * $ 500 per week Covering expenses of the Federation's Campaign missions during their visit to region.

Delegations from the region: CBB 28,000 Winter Camp 10,000

For many years, P2K has sent Israeli teens from the region to serve as counselors (CIT) in CBB Camp in Montreal. 14 youngsters from Israel will work five weeks in the second session of the Montreal Summer Camp. In the last two years Israeli youngsters from the region joined their peers from the Sephardic Community in the KIF-Kef Winter Camp

Gesher Chai between Schools: Gesher Chai Schools 80,000

Connections between 14 schools in Beer-Sheva Bnei-Shimon and Montreal

21

Name of project or delegation

Israeli P2P Recommendation

Details:

Hillel

10,000

Young Leadership

10,000

Teens Leadership

20,000

Publicity and Media Professional Exchange

5,000 10,000

Artists Exchange

10,000

Bavel-Yeushalaim

10,000

Reserve

24,000

Students from the Hillel Ben-Gurion University and Hillel Montreal are developing joint programs including: video conferences and community projects. Develop Young Leadership group in the region that will focus on Jewish Identity and Connection to peer group in Montreal. It has been the vision of P2K people in the region to form a follow- up group for participants of the P2P Summer Mifgashim and delegations. In 2006, the Israeli teens met every other week to develop Leadership skills and deal with Jewish Identity. Members of the projects participated in the delegations to Camp CBB in the summer and Kif-Kef camp in the winter. Every year the Partnership is publishing a yearly newspaper. Reciprocal visits of delegations with common areas of interest: B2B, Medicine etc. Exhibitions of artists from the region in Montreal and artists from Montreal in the region Joint learning groups of our books in two centers; one in the region and one in the community JAFI policy to secure funds for the changing dollars rates

P2P delegations:

Total P2P budget proposal:

395,000

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