Support Families with Special Needs in Palestine

                                          The Friends of the Four Homes of Mercy

                                                    10455 Torre Avenue

                                                   Cupertino, CA. 95014

                                             Family Support Groups Program

                                                   Report / November 2019

 Thanks to you, wonderful donors, the initial Family Support Group for the families of 10 residents was all to reach its goals of reducing isolation and increasing the contact between families, their resident, and the staff.

     Meeting monthly, with the assistance of our matron and social worker, the participants were able to create and maintain strong bonds with one another which they sustained via WhatsApp between meeting times.  The transformation of the family members was dramatic!  Involvement with their resident on-site, and short home visits increased significantly. Each person felt he or she had a better understanding of the treatment plan for their loved one, and a greater connection to the staff.  

      For some participants, assistance with the cost of transportation was essential to help them to achieve their long-held dream more frequent contact and with people who truly understand their situation, and with their loved one.

     We now have other families eager to have such a group, and hope, finances permitting, to start the next one(s) in January.

• Creating opportunities to socialize and building friendships – families moved on in building close friendships and started to invite new members to join the group, where they have the chance to share their concerns, challenges, and experiences. They emphasized on the need to keep regular meetings and to strengthen communication between each other.
• Providing a listening ear – families enjoyed the chance not only to be heard, but also to hear each other while expressing their feelings, needs, and concerns. Being in such a loving environment enabled families to feel that they are more socially supported and accepted by friends who are ready to listen and understand their worries and fears.
• Providing information, advice, and emotional and social support – being able to learn and to be part in making decisions concerning their loved ones is of great importance for families and a valuable chance to get guidance on ways to address their concerns and implement their experiences. This caring environment is able to provide families with strong emotional support.
• Providing a regular meeting place – the family support program provides families who come from different parts of Palestine with a regular place to meet and organize joint activities families; this is one of the factors that encouraged families to invite new members to join the group.
• Organizing activities such as joint excursions and family days out – families actively joined a number of activities, where they were able to strengthen communication, build relations, and enjoy entertainment activities.

Partnership with you is enabling us to address the need for family supporting groups that would help to overcome the devastating impact on the social and mental health of many families with disabled persons as the result of isolation, the Four Homes of Mercy started to implement a family support program that is planned to focus on the following aspects:

1. Creating opportunities to socialize and building friendships.

2. Providing a listening ear.

3. Providing information, advice, and emotional and social support.

4. Providing a regular meeting place.

5. Organizing activities such as joint excursions and family days out.

Attached please find the report.

Thank you,,,

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Subject: Update report for GlobalGiving project 51484

Your generosity has created excitement, eagerness, hope! The family support group will begin mid-March.  In order to best meet the needs of the participants, our social worker is presently interviewing them to ask what they want from the group.  ....The chance to share the challenge of having a severely impaired loved one with those who truly understand is something they have never had!  The opportunity to learn from other families how they cope with the social stigma and isolation!  Hearing from other families, as well as from our professionals on ways of   communicating with loved ones who cannot speak, responding in the most helpful way to certain behaviors, of teaching skills such as self-feeding, how to more frequent and better home visits is a cherished opportunity!


Please know that your gift will greatly enhance the lives of our participants, and their loved ones.