Published in JDC in 2019. Read original article here.

Fulfilling the groundbreaking vision of the Ruderman Family Foundation, Israel Unlimited—the Foundation’s revolutionary partnership with JDC and the Government of Israel—has since 2009 driven the dramatic expansion of programs and services that are promoting the inclusion of adults with disabilities in Israel’s social and economic mainstream, and highlighting their integral role in Israeli society to the public at large. For more information on the work of the Boston-based Foundation, please visit rudermanfoundation.org.

Israel is home to almost one million adults with disabilities and nearly 20 percent of those disabilities are moderate to severe. Israelis with disabilities experience higher rates of poverty and have struggled to live independently and achieve professional fulfillment. A much higher percentage are cared for in residential facilities than is the case in the U.S., and many have felt marginalized by the public and underserved by community institutions.

Israel Unlimited’s innovative programs have touched the lives of adults with disabilities in every sector of the population—including Israeli Arabs, the ultra-Orthodox, and immigrants with special needs—empowering them to advocate on their own behalf, to live independently, and to enter and advance in the workplace and achieve satisfying careers.

The Partnership’s Centers for Independent Living provide peer counseling and a range of services that are run by and for adults (both staff members and volunteers) with all types of disabilities—physical, mental, sensory, and cognitive. Through its supported housing program, Israel Unlimited has empowered hundreds of people with various disabilities to live on their own in their community, providing them with the support services they need to fulfill their dreams of independence.

Embodying the principle that people, with disabilities or without disabilities, are first and foremost people, the Partnership’s landmark initiatives have brought a new generation of services to life in Israel. They have also facilitated an advocacy revolution that has fostered a dramatic change in the public’s perception of the value of inclusivity and its benefits to society as a whole—gaining nationwide acceptance of the idea that “people with disabilities are also people with abilities.”

Video: https://www.jdc.org/the-ruderman-family-foundation/#see-how-israel-unlimited-is-making-a-difference