NGO confronts Israel’s hidden housing crisis

In windows, on doorsteps, in malls and city squares, Israel’s public spaces are bright with candles this week. “It’s ironic,” says Irit Krokovsky, social worker at the NGO Tenufa Bakehila – Building Hope, “In the darkest days of winter, when all we want is to warm up inside, our communities turn on the lights outside. You’d think we would want a haven from the dark and the cold. But we take for granted that inside of our homes there’s light and warmth, that the light we create – the miracles – need to show up out of doors.”

In her role at Tenufa Bakehila – Building Hope, Irit works with families who suffer from housing poverty, Israel’s hidden housing crisis. While Israeli media and social activists grapple with the notorious “housing crisis,” Tenufa Bakehila – Building Hope addresses the housing poverty which afflicts thousands of Israeli families. These families see holiday lights as less ironic and more painful. Their homes are dark and in deep disrepair. Elderly shower in cold water in the winter, Holocaust survivors drag buckets of water to broken toilet so they can flush. Toddlers sleep, in danger, alongside exposed electrical outlets and live wiring. Children struggle to do homework at night because they lack working lights.

Housing poverty afflicts tens of thousands of families in Israel, and Tenufa

A kitchen after Tenufa Bakehila worked on it. (Credit: Tenufa Bakehila)

Bakehila is the only organization that brings relief on a large-scale. This Chanukah, Tenufa Bakehila’s Bring the Light Home campaign is raising awareness about the hidden housing crisis – the untenable housing poverty that afflicts families and children in need. Learn more and support the campaign 

The children who isolate in dark homes

Irit tells the story of Meital, a young teenager who lives with her grandmother and four siblings in a tiny Jerusalem apartment. Meital and her siblings never invite friends home. How could they when the walls are riddled with mold, when the bathroom door doesn’t close all the way. At night, Meital lays awake staring at the ceiling in the living room she shares with two younger brothers. The concrete, cracked for years, gave way several months ago. Chunks of concrete fell to the floor, leaving metal beams from the building frame exposed. Still, the living room was a luxury compared to her grandmother’s bedroom. The elderly woman slept on an enclosed porch so the youngest children could sleep in the apartment’s one bedroom.

The repairs that Tenufa Bakehila provided for Meital and her family lit up their home and their lives. The NGO’s repair team reworked the apartment to create an additional bedroom. They broke through a wall, redirected plumbing and electricity and created a room for Meital, so she could grow into a young women with privacy from her brothers. The repair team treated the mold, fixed the ceilings and walls (no more metal beams), and repaired the bathroom and its door. Tenufa Bakehila helps hundreds of children like Meital each year but many more still need help. Join their life-changing work, donate to Bring the Light Home. Donations will fund critical repairs in the homes of children suffering from poverty.

The source of the crisis

Tenufa Bakehila is the largest home-repair organization in Israel and the only one that addresses both the source and repercussions of housing poverty. “We work in the family’s most intimate space,” Irit explains. “Our teams work in a home all day for several days.” When they treat an apartment for mold, repair broken walls, paint, they enter every bedroom. They discover the teenager who is in bed all day, a silent dropout suffering from depression. They notice when pills sit out on a counter because a Holocaust survivor needs help with her medication. They may arrive early in the morning to replace a rotted kitchen and discover an 11-year-old boy folding up a cot and pajamas in the kitchen, his “bedroom.”

Tenufa Bakehila workers fixing up a home. (Credit: Tenufa Bakehila)

“Repairing the home is crucial to a family’s thriving,” says Irit. “But we know that dilapidation is a symptom of crisis or challenge, so we integrate social support as part of repairs.” Irit helps repair staff to work appropriately with individuals in need, and she provides direct support for families. She is skilled at crisis evaluation and individuation of services. Her goal is two-fold, to fill gaps in families’ existing welfare services, and to help families develop awareness of their own needs and gain the resources and skills to address them.

Greater need, greater potential

Irit explains that some of the most tragic circumstances are also the ones with the most potential. Recently, she helped a family with five young children, including nine-year-old Arik who has cognitive disabilities and impaired hearing. When Arik was younger he suffered from frustration and rage. He destroyed furniture, kicked down doors, broke windows. His parents had no energy to care for their other children, barely enough energy to work, and no funds to repair the damage to their home. While Tenufa Bakehila’s repair team installed doors in the bathrooms and bedrooms, Irit counseled the family.

A teddy bear in a home that needs repairs. (Credit: Tenufa Bakehila)

While the team repaired windows, Irit connected the family with resources to help them rebuild and thrive.

Before long, Arik was enrolled in an afterschool program that freed his mother to spend time with the other children, to sit for a few quiet minutes and recharge. Irit arranged for coaching to help the parents learn skills for raising a child with

A teddy bear in the finished room, after repairs. (Credit: Tenufa Bakehila)

special needs. She connected them with a support group and with an organization that provides beds because the children had been sleeping on the floor. Tenufa Bakehila’s repair staff fixed the physical structure of the home, Irit replaced the desperation with energy and hope, and the family has begun a path towards a healthy and thriving home.

Bringing the Light Home

Tenufa Bakehila repairs over 500 dilapidated homes each year, bringing the light home for more than 2,000 Israelis of all ages: children, elderly, Holocaust survivors, single parent families, people coping with disabilities and illness, immigrants, and others in need. Tenufa Bakehila operates eight professional repair teams and collaborates with 20 municipalities to reach the families most in need.

Thousands of children are still desperate for help! Tenufa Bakehila calls to those who enjoy stable, bright homes to help bring the light home to others. This Chanukah, donate to Bring the Light Home to help the thousands of Israeli children still suffering from housing poverty.

For more information and to donate, visit tenufa.org or call +972-2-679-3491. Donations can also be mailed to Tenufa Bakehila – Building Hope, Rashba 15, Jerusalem or online here