Vision
The project has a twofold aim: to assist distressed populations, and to involve young people in community life.
In other words, the Tsedek children don’t just receive; they are also taught to give.
Activity
The Center for At-Risk Youth opened its doors in 2008 with support from the Matanel Foundation. Its originality and efficacy have made it an overwhelming success. The project’s overall goal is to fight juvenile delinquency, not through repression but by the more challenging means of prevention. The first step was to create a framework for teenagers in Jerusalem’s Katamon neighborhood, and to help them re-integrate into society.
At the time the program was launched these teens were failing in school and socially marginal. They were experiencing major difficulties on the social and behavioral planes. Today, they are enthusiastically involved in Tsedek activities, and their scholastic performance has significantly improved. Most of these teens have earned their matriculation certificates and are starting to look to the future: army service for the young men, national service for the young women. It should be noted that the program does not engage exclusively with youth; rather, it strives to address both the child and his familial environment. This is what gives the program its comprehensive quality: the family is involved. A long-term view is taken, ensuring that the child receives needed support from the pre-adolescent period through young adulthood.