4 Ways the JNF is Committed to Those with Disabilities & Special Needs

In effort to help develop Israeli land and infrastructure, Jewish National Fund (JNF) is passionate about community outreach, creating resources, and ensuring accessibility for people across numerous spaces. In fact, JNF has become a global environmental leader by providing infrastructure for over 1,000 communities, including the construction of over 220 reservoirs and dams and developing over 250,000 acres of land.
JNF’s support for Israel’s land and people includes raising awareness and having representation for those with special needs and disabilities. Over the years, the organization has contributed to the construction of inclusive places. This includes creating areas such as recreational facilities, picnic spots, forests, parks, and trails that are accessible for all individuals. Along with providing accessible public spaces, JNF assists in providing proper services and care for people with special needs and disabilities. These efforts not only provide the much needed care for various individuals but aids in creating visibility for them. Over 10% of people living in Israel have a disability that affects their daily life. Creating facilities and programs for those in this population improves their overall quality of life and helps them make their own impact on the world.
JNF is committed to various organizations that assist and empower those with disabilities and special needs in the Israeli community. The organization has launched the Task Force on Disabilities, an umbrella initiative to serve and connect its partnerships with the following four, Israeli organizations: ALEH Negev-Nahalat Eran Rehabilitation Village, LOTEM, Red Mountain Therapeutic Riding Center, and Special in Uniform. Together, these organizations have impacted the lives of several thousand children, youth, and adults with special needs and disabilities through various programs. These initiatives involve providing rehabilitative and medical care, accessible areas for recreation, therapeutic services, and employment opportunities.
Keep reading to learn more about each partner organization and how their efforts together are impacting the lives of Israel’s disability community.
1. ALEH Negev-Nahalat Eran

Located in Israel’s southern region, the ALEH Negev-Nahalat Eran Rehabilitation Village currently houses about 190 residents, including children, young adults, and adults up to age 50. In addition to these residents, the Village provides 4,500 outpatient services and treatments every year. With 230 staff members and 175 volunteers, the facility ensures each resident and outpatient receives proper care and consideration. As a result of its dedication to providing expert rehabilitative care, ALEH Negev has created employment opportunities for hundreds of local residents in various fields, such as education, rehabilitation, maintenance, administration, medicine, and supportive care. The organization has also integrated the larger society in ongoing projects by connecting and educating various Israeli government ministries, foundations, and philanthropists as well as other individuals from around the world.
The facility provides continuous care for children with severe disabilities as they grow into young adults, helping them develop in their independence and preparing them to confidently interact, integrate, and flourish in society. ALEH Negev bases its care on helping young people and adults interact with the outside world and enjoy their lives to the fullest by providing a friendly and dignified atmosphere.
The ALEH Negev facility has unique spaces adapted and designed for accessibility and care for residents. This includes therapy areas, including the Hydrotherapy Pool, Safari Petting Zoo, Therapeutic Horseback Riding Track, and Therapeutic Gardens. Other features include a vocational workshop center, hospital center, dental clinic, and assisted-living apartment units that are part of the facility’s four residential wings.
The organization plans to expand its services and build a new residential complex. This will provide a solution for the lack of rehabilitative facilities in the Negev region to accommodate the number of individuals with disabilities and special needs seeking a home. This residential home will be equipped to house an additional 48 residents, including the following: severely disabled children under age 15, residents over age 21 from ALEH facilities in Bnei Brak, Gedera, and Jerusalem, and people ages 50 and up who reside in assisted-living homes far from their families in Negev. Dedication opportunities and equipment sponsorships are currently available to support the project.
JNF partners with ALEH Negev by funding the creation of new facilities. Established in 2003 as a national project for the state of Israel, the Village has revolutionized life for the disability community and contributed to the future of the nation. Though it is the only rehabilitation center of its kind in Israel, the ALEH Negev-Nahalat Eran Rehabilitation Village continues to transform lives worldwide.
2. LOTEM — Making Nature Accessible

Founded in 1993, LOTEM is a leading organization in Israel that was founded to provide appropriate guidance and more defined trails for hikers with special needs. These individuals would otherwise have to remain behind because of the lack of physical accessibility and guided instruction. Since its establishment, the organization provides educational nature activities and hikes in the Israeli countryside. These programs give access to children and adults with special needs, such as visual and hearing impairments, physical, intellectual and emotional challenges, and children with autism. Participants also include at risk youth, and mothers and children living in shelters. Every year, over 30,000 people with special needs and disabilities take part in LOTEM’s nature activities.
LOTEM’s facilities are located near Yokneam at the Emek HaShalom (Valley of Peace) Nature Park, which includes a center on an ecological farm. The organization has another center located in Jerusalem. While providing access to nature, LOTEM’s activities focus on teaching students Jewish values about helping others in the community and respecting nature.
Through contributions from donors in Israel and around the world, LOTEM is able to hold numerous educational projects. This includes Four Seasons, a program that provides outings and workshops for children and adults year-round. Participants are able to experience the changes of nature as the seasons change, and professional guides adapt all activities to every group’s needs. For example, explanations are given in Braille and through 3-dimensional models for visually-impaired individuals. Additionally, children on the autism spectrum use illustrated communication tables for explanations. Participants have lessons tailored to their specific needs, allowing them to get the most out of their nature experience.
Mother Nature is a program that provides women and children, who live in shelters as victims of domestic violence, with therapeutic and recreational activities close to home. Groups experience activities in their natural surroundings, from hiking to field cooking to artistic workshops. This enables them to rebuild their lives by developing skills that enhance their well-being and help them later transition into independent living. Green Time provides weekly nature clubs for people with special needs who live in rehab centers, hospitals, hostels and other facilities. For individuals who cannot participate in programs outside of these care facilities, these clubs provide a fun, social, and educational experience that allows them to learn about their environment while staying indoors.
Other outreach projects LOTEM provides include Integra-Teva, which builds community between Jews and Arabs from all over Israel, Mitzvah to Mitzvah, which offers Jewish youth the opportunity to share their Bar or Bat Mitzvah with children with special needs through charitable giving, Touching the Western Wall, which provides class trips to Jerusalem for children with special needs, and Natural Integration, which connects students in special education classes with students in regular education classes through joint nature activities.
Recognized for its all-inclusive nature trail in Nahal HaShofet, JNF and LOTEM have been partners for over a decade. JNF supports numerous projects from LOTEM, such as Four Seasons, Integra-Teva, and Mother Nature. These initiatives have played a monumental role in accomplishing LOTEM’s mission to give all individuals and communities opportunities to participate in unforgettable experiences that otherwise would be difficult to access.
3. Red Mountain Therapeutic Riding Center

Red Mountain Therapeutic Riding Center (RMTRC) provides weekly horseback riding therapy to nearly 200 children and adults with physical and mental disabilities as well as emotional and behavioral issues in Israel’s remote Arava region.
The Center is located in the desert terrain of Kibbutz Grofit, near the Jordanian mountains and caters to the southern region of Israel, whose population is in need of more facilities that provide medical services such as rehabilitative care and curative therapy. Since being established in 1999, RMTRC provides therapeutic riding for people with mild to severe disabilities and special needs. Riders include children, youth, and adults, ages ranging from 3 to 86 years, who have developmental, neurological, behavioral and learning challenges, chronic illnesses, and other handicaps. Depending on their needs, participants can ride their horse independently or be accompanied by side walkers or therapists for needed support.
RMTRC has an exceptional staff who provides a treatment plan and therapy program that meet the specific needs of every individual. Along with the Center’s 26 horses, the team includes licensed riding therapists who provide riders with psychological supervision during the program. Therapy also involves consultation with professionals from various fields: medical and educational teams as well as occupational, physical, and speech therapists. Additionally, various volunteers aid therapy riding sessions, helping to shape every participant’s experience.
Therapeutic riding creates a supervised, safe, and engaged experience for riders, as they learn their own capabilities and achieve their own goals while developing a relationship with their horse, therapist, and assistants. In particular, riders with physical disabilities often show improvement in bodily movements during the program in their flexibility, balance, muscle tone, strength, coordination, posture, and motor development. Those with mental and emotional disabilities greatly benefit from the relationship they form with the horse, enabling them to build confidence, self-esteem, patience, and independence. Overall, participants have been able to improve in their cognitive and social skills, communication, and well-being.
RMTRC’s program is often used in addition to student’s school curriculum or an individual’s recreational group activity. Riders come to the Center for one morning or an afternoon session every week over the course of a 30-week term. The program also involves other activities for younger children, such as taking care of animals at the center’s petting zoo and receiving academic lessons in classrooms. Nevertheless, all participants have access to the outdoor sport areas and playgrounds. Other parts of the facility includes three riding arenas, two corrals, bridle paths, wheelchair-accessible sidewalks, and stables.
Every year, Red Mountain Therapeutic Riding Center aims to enroll two extra classes and recreational centers, in addition to the 200 riders already enrolled in the effective and transformative program. JNF has been devoted to financially supporting RMTRC’s program, helping the center provide professional service and care for those in need.
4. Special in Uniform

Established as a non-profit organization in 2005, Special in Uniform gives young people who have autism and other disabilities the opportunity to serve in Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Its authentic program has created a more inclusive environment in the army and in Israeli society. The organization helps these youth integrate into the outside world and gain independence. Special in Uniform helps each participant in the program to find a job within the IDF that fits his or her talents, abilities, and skills. As opposed to focusing on the disability, Special in Uniform ensures that every individual is encouraged based on their unique skills.
The IDF bases are suitable places to position the program’s participants as they play an important role in Israeli society in addition to fulfilling their military duty to protect the Nation’s land. The IDF has worked to integrate individuals from various backgrounds in the Israeli community. For example, several units have formed specifically for at-risk and delinquent youth in rehabilitation. Also, over one hundred young people with disabilities serve on the IDF bases. These units have allowed young people to integrate into society and in the job market after serving in the army.
Special in Uniform has a program that allows for success, practical learning, and preparation. The organization’s professional team evaluates and assesses each individual then provides a three-month training course to build on life and occupational skills. The course curriculum combines aspects such as personal and social skills, academics, daily living, and job skills to help students gain independence. Various fun activities are also incorporated into training: drama, sewing, and cooking workshops, for example, as well as nature hikes. Participants learn personal independence, positive self-image, and behavioral skills while working with a psychologist during their time. Following this, students participate in a 10-day pre-induction training program course led by professionals.
As soldiers, the students integrate into the IDF by taking on jobs that allow them to use their unique talents. These jobs range from areas such as intelligence, working at emergency depots, military stores, print shops, kitchens, and more. Additionally, soldiers are mentored by an experienced and welcoming team that includes a psychologist, social worker, and professional instructors. By the end of the program, participants gain invaluable life and professional skills that help them succeed in the competitive job market.
JNF partners with Special in Uniform by providing rehabilitative services, special education, and medical care. As a result, JNF actively helps the organization accomplish its goals to create inclusive environments and educate the world on the needs of those with special needs and disabilities. With its successful program, Special in Uniform has enabled many people to be confident in their abilities and achieve their dreams.
Make a Difference with Jewish National Fund
Through partnering with these four organizations, JNF has built a sense of community and belonging for people of all ages and backgrounds with special needs and disabilities. Otherwise, these populations often live the majority of their lives in hospitals for treatment, without opportunities to build connections with society or a home community. Nevertheless, through initiatives like these, JNF continues to remain committed to its goal that “no member of Israeli society is left behind.”
These organizations rely on generous donations to make life-changing programs possible. JNF office receives donations that contribute to these efforts. To find out more about how you can show your support and donate to these four organizations, see the links below:
Donate to ALEH Negev-Nahalat Eran
Donate to LOTEM — Making Nature Accessible
