Meet Pitchon Lev, the NGO aiding scores of vulnerable Israelis this Pesach

"Studies conducted in Israel prove that a  child raised in a poor family will be poor himself, his children will be poor and so on. This figure is not consistent with the basket of values inherent in Jewish genes where helping others is of crucial importance," says Nissim Zioni, founder and CEO of the Pitchon-Lev organization.

Both Fish and Fishing Rods 

"It is important for us to create real and comprehensive social change in Israel, and therefore we invest heavily in the children of the recipients of aid. We have managed to get 87% of them out of poverty, "says Zioni.

 

In 2003 g, the Pitchon-Lev organization built an educational empowerment program aimed at accompanying youth from the geographic and social periphery to beat the cycle of poverty.

 

"Together with Tel Aviv University, we examined the specific difficulties and challenges of this youth and adapted solutions for them," says Tzioni.

 

"Touching the horizon" is the result. A program that accompanies the youth for seven years through three main lifetimes:

Phase One: High School: 10th-12th grade: High school graduation  

Three years: Empowerment and cultivating leadership qualities, volunteering in the community, and assessing and monitoring the individual's achievements. 

Phase Two: Army Service: Enlisting in the IDF or Sherut Leumi (National Service)

Three years: The empowerment mentor continues to accompany soldiers throughout their service along with a volunteer IDF reserves officer. Soldiers receive a monthly financial stipend.

Phase Three: Civilian Life: Support in the civilian life

One year: The mentor accompanies the participant for one year after completion of his/her military service, and helps the young adult integrate into an academic institute or workplace. 

At the end of the program we place them in one of three situations: Significant work places, diploma studies or degree studies. Eighty-seven percent of the program graduates are already there." For us it is important not to meet them in the future in our aid centers," emphasizes Zioni.

A National Effort is Required

"The neglect of the working class by Israel's governments, along with the wave of rising living costs, has made Israel among the poorest countries in comparison to other democracies in the world," says Pitchon Lev founder and CEO Tzioni.

Laws of Pitchon Lev

The law is our answer to our desire to restore responsibility to the government. The order of things should be as follows:

The organization's great dream is to return the responsibility for dealing with poverty to the government, and that we will no longer be needed. We believe that the government, and not the non-profit organizations, should be concerned about citizens and the needy population. In order to realize this dream, we formulated the Pitchon Lev Law.