COCHAV HATZAFON ASSOCIATION

The Cochav Hatzafon Association (registered) – is a registered non-profit association active in the Israel’s northern periphery and in the Western Galilee region. It is engaged in developing and activating services and support frameworks for persons with special needs and developing community services for children and youths at risk. The association was established by public dignitaries and representatives of the target population in 2003.

Unique Occupational and Social Centers
The jewel in the crown of the organization is the establishment and running of occupational centers for Multiple disabilities at three locations in the Western Galilee – in the town of Maalot (the “Shibolim” Club and the “Alim” workshop), at Kibbutz Matzuva (the “Aluma” Multiple disabilities center) and at Moshav Shomera (the “Telem” Multiple disabilities center.  During 2010 a further center is to open at Kfar Veradim (“Ma’arag” –Multiple disabilities Arts Center) that will combine workshops of artists in the community..
The occupational centers are open throughout the year within a single system facilitating the integration of a wide variety of persons with special needs.  There is emphasis on bonding the groups socially and according to the criteria for interpersonal relations.  They also allow members to move from one framework to another according to their wishes and their suitability to the group already populating that center.  The target population includes adults aged 18 years and above, persons from all the various denominations, physically disabled, intellectually disabled, brain damaged and others who are mentally challenged, all of whom are designated as “disabled” by the National Insurance Institute or the rehabilitation wing of the Ministry of Defense.
At the occupational centers the rehabilitants create a wide choice of products for the home and the office: ceramics, textiles, greetings cards from pure paper, wooden furniture, etc.  All income from the sales is exclusively channeled for the benefit of the rehabilitants.
The association integrates disabled persons at work in the catering center of “Ma’ir Panim” in Akko and Nahariya.
The association also employs persons with special needs within the organization itself on a salary or voluntary basis and assists persons interested in being absorbed into the general employment market and offering them appropriate liaison and support.
Services for Children and Youths at Risk
Clubhouse for Children at Risk
The Cochav Hatzafon Association operates a network of clubhouses for children at risk from every ethnic community in the Galilee – Jews, Arabs, Druze and Bedouin.  The clubhouse provide, first and foremost, the last option before leaving home.  They provide an essential service for these children designated as children at risk – improving the process of their social integration, strengthening their personal welfare, improving their everyday personal, social and learning functioning.  There is also emphasis on improving mutual relations between the child and its parents, contending with behavioral deterioration and providing parents with the tools to do so plus counseling and guidance.  The project is run with the cooperation of the welfare departments of the various villages and with the support of donors.
“Mobile Café on the Border”
This project is active within the Maaleh Yosef Regional Council region and the aim of this mobile unit is to identify adolescents in three peripheral locations near the northern border and to work with them building trust through dialogue. The mobile cafe with its social youth leader approaches the youths on the spot and invites them to talk around a camp fire as well as playing table games in an ambient and receptive atmosphere. Café on the Border serves as a factor that assists parents, teachers and professional in reaching out to these at-risk youths requiring help.