On a ‘normal’ day, more than one thousand children and adults with disabilities will come to the Shalva National Center, from birth to adulthood, from all sectors of Israeli society, to attend educational and rehabilitative programs.
The state-of-the-art center, located in the heart of Jerusalem is a beacon of light and considered one of the leading centers for people with disabilities in the world.
With a floor to ceiling glass atrium, brightly colored walls and a huge butterfly mobile by famous artist David Gerstein welcoming visitors into the center, Shalva is a model of inclusion that has been replicated across the world.
However, over the past week the center has taken on a distinct and vital purpose and has transformed into the Shalva National Crisis Response Center.
Within a few days of the outbreak of the war, on October 7, hundreds of people who had to be evacuated to safety, from the southern border towns of Israel, began arriving.
All of the evacuees, men, women and children of all ages, had experienced a hugely traumatic few days, having been surrounded by Hamas terrorists and having had to defend their homes and take shelter, in fear for their lives.
‘We’ve been through three really stressful days, it started with waking up with sirens, then being closed in bomb shelters, sometimes without electricity, and the understanding that we are at war’ shared Rabbi Yaron Levy from Moshav Naveh, located on the northern border of the Gaza Strip.
Upon arrival, the evacuees were greeted by staff members and volunteers and were finally able to relax and breathe a little easier knowing they were out of immediate danger.
Over the coming weeks, Shalva anticipates receiving a further 1,000 evacuees who will be seeking refuge at the National Crisis Response Center, from across Israel.
As well as food, clothing and personal hygiene items, Shalva will ensure there is enhanced security, rehabilitative stability, and the social and emotional support they all require to enable them to begin to process the recent trauma.
The Shalva Center was designated by the Home Front as a National Emergency and Response Center. Shalva is uniquely prepared thanks to the incomparable size and scope of the center. The structure of the center incorporates a steel and cement-based core, which extends both horizontally and vertically throughout the eleven
stories of the 20,000sqm building. As such, several bomb shelters and safe rooms are located on every floor of the center and allow anyone quick access from any point in the building without involving extensive distances or stairs.
Additionally, the building’s foundation is fixed into the side of a mountain, such that five of the eleven floors are below street level and are enveloped by the mountain, preventing the possibility of complete penetration of a rocket to the building. Three of these floors, which typically function as a sports center and parking lot, are completely underground and offer the ultimate shelter, likened to a military bunker. They can be converted to bed bays if needed.
Shalva’s CEO Yochanan Samuels commented, ‘Shalva is committed to ensuring the safety and wellbeing of everyone who seeks refuge and seeing the joy on the faces of the children after all they’ve been through is really special’.
Rabbi Levy summed it up beautifully when he reflected ‘it was only on arriving here that I realized how tense I was, and how I could finally let go – I don’t have to be on guard duty anymore, it’s really amazing, Am Yisrael Chai!’
Shalva has launched an Emergency Fund to support the immense task of ensuring the safety and wellbeing of Israel’s most vulnerable during these extremely challenging times, to donate please click HERE.
This article was written in cooperation with Shalva