Vision
Employment on the Horizon seeks to provide blind and visually impaired teens with social and employment skills and successful summer work experience in the Israeli mainstream. The goal is to give them the foundation to choose volunteer military or national service and prepare them for independent living, higher education and employment.
Activity
Ofek Liyladenu is Israel’s association of parents of children who are visually impaired, with the mission of enabling them to achieve their full potential and greatest possible integration into Israeli society.
It guides and supports children and families from infancy throughout adulthood. Ofek Liyladenu is led by social workers and educational specialists (including individuals who are blind themselves) who provide psychological, logistical, and practical counsel to parents.
Its programs are designed to rehabilitate and developed skills, self-confidence and sensory capacities. It serves children and families throughout Israel, from all backgrounds and in all locales, from cities to remote rural regions.
Ofek Liyladenu’s team provides oversight for all aspects of the Employment on the Horizon program, from outreach to potential blind teen participants throughout the country to the enlistment of diverse businesses and nonprofit organizations that employ blind and visually impaired teens for summer jobs. The team’s responsibilities include guiding teens and their families, engaging professionals, volunteers, and program alumni in preparatory workshops, and providing counsel to participating employers to ensure the success of the program. Each year, the program is evaluated with an eye toward creating an ongoing cycle of improvement and inculcating lessons learned from each year’s experience.