"Katef to Katef" (meaning "Shoulder to Shoulder") is an organization founded with the aim of creating meaningful change in Israeli society through helping distressed families break the cycle of poverty. An innovative program was developed with the aim of providing a genuine opportunity to consciously break the experience of life as ongoing crisis. We believe that every person has the right and ability to live life in a manner in which they choose, and our main goal is to reveal the opportunity and provide guidance and motivation to help families assume responsibility over their own lives. Our program leads the families on a process of change which ultimately results in their full independence without the need to rely on welfare or charity.
One of the organization's primary goals is to assist those families in reestablishing themselves as functioning members of society. The organization offers broad support to families from all facets of Israeli population within the bottom socioeconomic tier of society, who experience financial and social difficulties; absorption and integration problems and hardships in achieving their educational and medical needs. Many organizations provide such families with stopgap assistance, a kind of economic "first aid" that does not delve into the family's rooted problems. Our experience is that effective intervention requires comprehensive and intensive work at the root levels, through ongoing holistic accompaniment for a period of 12 months to 2 years.
Outcomes following a year of working with the families:
• At the beginning of the process: out of 257 people only 110 people were part of the work force. At the end of the process: 217 people were employed (84%) as a result of the training process.
• 73.5% attend their workplace persistently, 48% upgraded Employment.
• Out of 171 households: 83% increased their income from employment, with an average income increase of 1,958 NIS per family.
• At the beginning of the process: the total sum of debt without a recovery process amounted to 12,404,522 NIS. At the end of the process: the total debt was reduced to 1,112,165 NIS.
