Safe Haven Overnight Camp
In accordance with the Ministry of Social Welfare’s directives, Orr Shalom’s family group homes children go home for holiday vacations and for three weeks of summer vacation. The goal of this is to ensure that the children are able to maintain contact with their nuclear and extended family. Unfortunately, there are children who have nowhere to go. Some are orphans and others cannot return to their homes because they present a dangerous environment for them. For these children, the Orr Shalom overnight camp is a respite where they get the opportunity to experience new and exciting activities. In accordance with the Ministry of Social Welfare’s directives, Orr Shalom’s family group homes children go home for holiday vacations and for three weeks of summer vacation. The goal of this is to ensure that the children are able to maintain contact with their nuclear and extended family. Unfortunately, there are children who have nowhere to go. Some are orphans and others cannot return to their homes because they present a dangerous environment for them. For these children, the Orr Shalom overnight camp is a respite where they get the opportunity to experience new and exciting activities.
Creating Childhood Memories
Campers participate in dance, music, yoga, baseball, outdoor camping and other experiences tailored to their developmental and emotional needs, enriching their inner world and filling them with joy and excitement. We are helping the children create a new life narrative, filled with wonderful childhood memories, to instill them with a sense of hope and strength going forward. Orr Shalom has recently teamed up with the Carraso Science Park and Weizmann Institute to integrate science-technology as a major component of the camp. Through fun, experiential workshops and activities, the kids are exposed to mind-expanding challenges and new concepts to spark their imagination and deepen their understanding of this critical field.
Providing an Emotionally Supportive Environment
Safe Haven Camp provides a complementary, supportive and protective framework that maintains the continuum of the family group home for children who are unable to return to their biological families’ homes during the holidays. In addition to traditional camp activities, at this sleep-away camp children receive therapeutic support from a team that understands their emotional needs and how best to meet them.
The Staff
The professional staff at Safe Haven includes: the camp manager, councilors who receive guidance from a psychologist and National Service volunteers who also work at the family group homes and know the children and their challenges. The group home parents and the dedicated caregiver team briefs camp staff about each child’s condition and the continued care that is required. During the camp session, the caregiver team visits the child and, thus, maintains the ongoing relationship with the permanent framework to which he will return. This therapeutic methodology helps ensure that each child can continue their rehabilitation and are able to flourish in both the camp and group home environments.
Join Us
Camp convenes four times a year – at Sukkot, Chanukah, Passover and during August vacation. It is entirely funded through donations. It is critical for these kids who cannot go home to know that they have somewhere to go. Safe Haven Overnight Camp provides an optimal solution and turns a potentially challenging time into an opportunity for personal growth. Help us continue the camp tradition by joining donor family. Together, we will ensure that all the Orr Shalom children have a pleasant vacation and a real opportunity to enjoy, grow and flourish.
“At Safe Haven Camp I feel safe. It’s a safe and secure place. ”
Julia, 13.5 years-old
“The schedule at Safe Haven Camp is really busy, full of activities! I don’t have much time to be sad, even though I’m actually here because I have no other place to be. ”
Yael, 11 years-old