Assisting Families

WIZO is active on behalf of single parent families and families of war-victims. Dozens of centres for single parent families throughout the country provide advice, support and offer a group framework for family members. Social-support groups are operated by volunteers and organized with the assistance of professionals. In this framework, WIZO organizes Bar/Bat Mitzvah celebrations, annual residential summer camps for children with disabled parents, children who have lost a sibling, orphans and children from single parent families, as well as seminars for widows. WIZO also offers legal advice and computerized information services for these families, concerning their rights, services and discounts that they are entitled to from government agencies and local authorities.

Single Parent Families and Families of War and Terrorism Victims

WIZO operates a network of services for single parent families and families of war and terrorism victims, in cooperation with the Ministry of Defense’s Rehabilitation Department, Social Security, local welfare authorities and the Ministry of Social and Labor Affairs. The activities target single parent families – widows/widowers, divorcees, unmarried mothers, separated mothers and those in the process of divorce – with children up to 18 years of age, families who have lost members through war or terrorism, families with disabilities and IDF widows.

Throughout the country there are some 25 centers for the rehabilitation of single parent families, in WIZO ceters,, offering a range of services: social groups, therapy groups, activities for parents and children, enrichment workshops and more. Participation involves a symbolic payment. WIZO volunteers and professional staff run the groups. Care for bereaved families, IDF widows, families with disabilities and children who have lost a sibling, is provided, when requested, by rehabilitation workers of the Ministry of Defense. WIZO volunteers, who undergo appropriate training, make home visits and provide a shoulder to lean on for family members in distress, and if required, assist in providing solutions to problems arising as a result of their situation. In the framework of these diverse activities, two central events are organized.

 Annual Bar and Bat Mitzvah celebrations for children from families of war victims, 
    single parent families and orphans. Celebrations are held in WIZO centers all over 
    the country together with the Social Security Services and the Ministry of Labour 
    and Social Affairs.

 Annual Summer Camps for children aged 7-14 years old from all over Israel for 
    children from families with disabilities, children who have lost siblings, orphans and 
    children from single parent families, providing them with an opportunity to have a 
    weeklong residential holiday in the WIZO Hadassim Youth Village. 

‘Mishpacha’ Center

The ‘Mishpacha’ Center for Single Parent Families in Jaffa is run in partnership with the Municipality of Tel Aviv-Jaffa and the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs. 350 single parent families – Jews and Arabs, and dozens of children, enjoy combined activities for parents and children. The center is a symbol of peaceful co-existence between Jews and Arabs and responds to the special needs of single parent families.