By a | Project Manager
Newest addition to Crossing the Street – "Town Square" is a weekly, happening – a "space" devoted to creating an environment where participants new and old as well as volunteers come at liberty; a "working" space for supporting one another, for advanced participants to give guidance to new; a space for job hunting, story sharing and always a lecture on professional advancement (in Tel Aviv and Haifa!)
"Miri" arrived yesterday for the first time, her body said "I can't", she has a hard time believing in herself and therefore has difficulty finding work (despite completing a BA.) At the end of the evening, I asked her, "how are you?" and "Miri" replied," I came in feeling like a deflated balloon, and I am leaving like a helium balloon filled to the brim with air!"
In 2017 after many years of training professional volunteers we redesigned and expanded the course. We lengthened it by a 1/3 and in addition to adding further professional learning we added more time for interactions with seasoned volunteers and role playing.
As we move forward in 2017 and thanks to the support of GlobalGiving (YOU BELIEVED IN US) – we are expanding "Crossing the Street" to new communities in the North. We are adding another staff position!
Sabina, immigrated to Israel alone from Germany as a young woman, a mother of two young children EMT driver. "It took me 20 years to realize I'm a victim of violence. I wasn't physically battered; I was emotionally beaten, economically abused. After reaching a breaking point, I escaped to a shelter – I was a wreck and needed protection. Over a year ago I sat at home, feeling restless, thinking, and searching for someone who will support me, accept me, and understand me without words...
"I found, Women's Spirit, Two words that are filled with both Power and Tenderness"! I took part in the employment workshop with ten other women. I guess you can call us all 'victims of violence'. It was hard at first, hard to open up, to feel the shame we all felt… but the coordinator reached out to us in her kind and professional way. We all waited for our Sunday morning meetings with such excitement! The best thing about it was feeling empowered – as individuals and as a group. After the workshop, I received a scholarship to study at the University of Haifa: a mentor; a wonderful volunteer that works with me on accomplishing my dreams!" "I WOULD NOT BE WHO I AM TODAY WITHOUT WOMEN'S SPIRIT"
Links:
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
