Pitchon Lev - Fighting Poverty in Israel - Our Projects

"Touching The Horizon"


The "Touching the Horizon" Educational Center dedicated to Ilan Ramon, the first Israeli astronaut, of blessed memory *The vision* – Providing equal educational opportunities to youth from underprivileged families. *The goal* – Saving youth from underprivileged families from deteriorating into a life on the fringes of society and placing them on a safe track for success in life. *"Touching the Horizon"* The "Touching the Horizon" Educational Center opened in 2002. "Touching the Horizon" focuses predominately on youth from underprivileged families, who have the potential and motivation to succeed. At the educational center, we accompany the youth during the entire length of their critical stages of life: high school, army and entry into adult life. During the entire period of the program, we accompany the youth and support them intellectually with a self-enriching program and an educational reinforcement program to assist them to successfully complete their matriculation studies. The activities at the educational center are authorized and supervised by the Welfare and Education Wing of the Education Ministry and are led by a professional team headed by Professor Joseph Kattan from the Faculty of Social Work at Tel Aviv University. In order to preserve the natural environment of the youth, all of the activities are conducted within their high schools. *Co-operation* Numerous companies such as Applied Materials, Checkpoint, Comverse, Alrov and others support the various educational centers and "adopt" study classes. This cooperation is a sign of faith in the educational program, the self-enrichment program, the educational reinforcement program and marathons in the run-up to matriculation exams, fun days and voluntary work performed jointly by the staff and the Touching the Horizon children. *Touching the Horizon – 2010 study program* The "Touching the Horizon" educational center is taking on a new direction. Ort – the leading educational network in Israel has chosen to cooperate with Touching the Horizon to advance the interests of youth from underprivileged families. As part of the cooperative arrangement, new study classes will be opened for children from underprivileged families and youth at risk who will enjoy a broad study program at the end of which they will receive a technical matriculation diploma. The program is supported by the Association of Industrialists and the Israel Defense Force. In addition, Colonel Zeev Raz, who was involved in the explosion of the Iraq reactor together with Rona Ramon, the widow of Ilan Ramon - the first Israeli astronaut, have undertaken to promote the issue of Israeli youth with specific emphasis of underprivileged youth. They are accompanying the Touching the Horizon educational center with the belief that our future is in the hand of today's youth. *Additional values* 1. Regional flexibility – the unique advantage of Touching the Horizon is in the possibility of conducting the courses anywhere in Israel in which the need and demand arises. We will be pleased to conduct a course in the community of your choice. 2. The program has a methodical and long term nature such that the influence on the youth participating in the program is significant. 3. Both the staff and the management can participate in fund raising and the joint voluntary work thereby creating an ethical and volunteer model for society. 4. The staff and tutors can participate in active voluntary work and other activities together with the youth in the study reinforcement program. 5. The children participating in the program can be integrated into your organization during vacations in order to gain work ethic values and a familiarization of the organization from within. 6. Joint cultural activities can be arranged with the program youth and staff. 7. The staff can be integrated into the circle of giving in which the youth engage in voluntary communal work in return for the assistance they receive. *The Pitchon Lev Touching the Horizon Center* The educational center was established with the aim of preventing youth from the second generation of underprivileged families from creating a third generation of poverty. At Pitchon Lev we understood that it is not sufficient merely to provide food parcels, rather that there is a real need to take youth under our wings and provide them with equal opportunities to get onto to a secure track for succeeding in life. Pitchon Lev views the educational center and the projects focusing on youth with superior importance and hence invests significant resources in spreading the word and opening as many groups as possible nationwide in order to fulfill the vision of the

Print Version

Send to a friend