Who We Serve

 According to Israel’s National Insurance Institute, 776,500 children live below the poverty line – that is a startling two out of every five Israeli children. Bet Shemesh and its surrounding areas include some of the most impoverished neighborhoods in Israel and contain a disproportionate number of the nation’s neediest children, many of whom are physically and emotionally undernourished and suffer from neglect and abuse. Although they have the potential to lead productive and successful lives, neither their schools nor their parents possess the financial resources to provide them with the educational and therapeutic support they need to succeed socially and academically. As a result, there are significant gaps in their education and many face major academic, behavioral, emotional, and social challenges, leaving them at a high risk of dropping out of school before completing 12th grade. 

• 58% of our students are from impoverished neighborhoods in Bet Shemesh; the other 42% come from the communities surrounding Bet Shemesh and from destitute areas throughout Israel;
• Approximately 25% of our students are from Ethiopian-Israeli families. Many of these boys have already graduated from BSEC and some have even gone on to elite units in the Israeli Defense Force (IDF).