Yad LaYeled HaMeyuchad

Yad LaYeled HaMeyuchad (Hebrew: יד לילד המיוחד, "A Hand for the Special Child") is an Israeli nonprofit association that provides comprehensive support for children and adults with special needs and their families. It was founded in 2005 by a group of parents of children with special needs, with the backing of former IDF Chief of Staff Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, who served as its first chairman. The association operates in the informal-education and welfare space, offering professional tools to parents, promoting motor and cognitive functioning, integrating children into community and educational frameworks, supporting enlistment in the IDF, and organizing leisure, cultural and respite activities. The organization runs a network of programs across Israel. Its flagship "Gdolim BaMadim" ("Great in Uniform") program integrates young people with special needs into the Israel Defense Forces; the association reports that 4,000 soldiers have been integrated to date. Other initiatives include the "Regesh" emotional-support center in Beit Dagan, a bar/bat mitzvah project, a vacation guesthouse in Haifa, a community training apartment, a mentoring project, independent community housing, and employment integration programs. The association reports serving 1,400 families annually through rights-realization assistance and providing 5,000 paramedical treatments each month at its treatment centers. Yad LaYeled HaMeyuchad collaborates with government ministries, businesses and other organizations, including the IDF, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Welfare and Social Security, the Ministry of Health and JNF. It is funded by public donations and operates under Israeli nonprofit law with transparency requirements. Its leadership includes CEO Rabbi Menachem Blinitsky and presidency chairman Maj. Gen. (res.) Gabi Ophir.

Yad LaYeled HaMeyuchad was founded in 2005 by a group of parents of children with special needs, with the support of former IDF Chief of Staff Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, who served as its first chairman. The initiative began in 2004 when several Chabad Hasidic families with children with special needs approached Rabbi Shlomo Maidanchek, who organized support meetings and built a community framework tailored to their needs. After Rabbi Maidanchek's death, his grandson Rabbi Menachem Mendel Blinitsky took over management and continues to serve as CEO. Until 2010, the association focused mainly on personal support and organizing cultural, leisure and vacation events. From 2010 onward, it expanded its activities to the general population, established support centers across the country, and now includes a variety of professional assistance programs with national deployment. In 2010, it established the "Merkaz Regesh" emotional support center in Beit Dagan, offering paramedical therapies including sensory stimulation, occupational therapy, art therapy, psychotherapy, psychodrama, speech therapy, physiotherapy, hydrotherapy, animal-assisted therapy and therapeutic riding. In 2018, the center provided over 10,000 treatments, 90% of which were individual. The bar/bat mitzvah project operates nationwide, providing technical and halachic solutions for children with special needs to celebrate this milestone. In February 2013, a vacation guesthouse named "Beit Carmela and Avraham Shabbat" was established in the Kiryat Eliezer neighborhood of Haifa, allocated by the Haifa Municipality and renovated at a cost of about 1.5 million shekels. It hosts respite vacations for children with special needs, including weekends for children with autism, intellectual developmental disabilities and Down syndrome. In 2014, the association created the "community training apartment" program to accompany adolescents transitioning from educational frameworks to independent living, in cooperation with the "HaTomer" special education school in Ness Ziona. In 2018, it opened a permanent community residence for adults with disabilities in Kiryat Malakhi. In 2015, it launched a mentoring project providing annual accompaniment, activities and empowerment meetings for parents, with students receiving scholarships in exchange for weekly mentoring. The "Gdolim BaMadim" program integrates young people with special needs into the IDF; the association reports that 4,000 soldiers have been integrated to date. In 2017, Ariel Almog, a co-founder of the program, received the President's Award for Volunteerism. In March 2019, US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman and Chris Neeley, an aide to President Donald Trump, visited the association's youth to learn about integrating people with disabilities into the US military. The association's activities have attracted public figures, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has hosted its youth several times in his office.

• 2019

  US Ambassador David Friedman and Chris Neeley visited the association's youth.

• 2018

  A permanent community residence for adults with disabilities opened in Kiryat Malakhi.

• 2017

  Ariel Almog, co-founder of Gdolim BaMadim, received the President's Award for Volunteerism.

• 2015

  A mentoring project was launched.

• 2014

  The "community training apartment" program was created.

• 2013

  A vacation guesthouse named "Beit Carmela and Avraham Shabbat" was established in Haifa.

• 2010

  The association expanded its activities to the general population and established the Merkaz Regesh emotional support center in Beit Dagan.

• 2005

  Yad LaYeled HaMeyuchad was officially registered as an association.

• 2004

  Several Chabad Hasidic families with children with special needs approached Rabbi Shlomo Maidanchek, who began organizing support meetings.

Nonprofit association providing comprehensive support for children and adults with special needs and their families in Israel.

• Merkaz Regesh

  Emotional support center in Beit Dagan offering paramedical therapies.

• Bar/Bat Mitzvah project

  Nationwide program enabling children with special needs to celebrate bar/bat mitzvah.

• Beit Carmela and Avraham Shabbat

  Vacation guesthouse in Haifa for respite vacations.

• Community training apartment

  Program teaching life skills to adolescents transitioning to independent living.

• Mentoring project

  Annual mentoring and support program for children and parents.

• Independent community housing

  Permanent housing for adults with disabilities.

• Gdolim BaMadim

  Program integrating young people with special needs into the IDF.

• Employment integration program

  Program integrating people with special needs into the civilian job market.

1. 1יד לילד המיוחד | לאהוב באמתspecial.org.il
2. 2הסיפור שלנו - יד לילד המיוחדspecial.org.il
3. 3Yad LaYeled HaMeyuchadwikidata.org
4. 4יד לילד המיוחדhe.wikipedia.org