HANDS OF MERCY INTERNATIONAL

VISITS TO RETIREMENT HOMES AND IMMIGRANT ABSORPTION CENTERS



Hands of Mercy team members have been paying weekly visits to the local care homes for the elderly, where most of the residents are Holocaust survivors. Staff members have been offering friendship and encouragement, activities as well as assistance with small maintenance jobs every week. With family members being busy or far away, elderly people in the care homes tend to suffer from loneliness and isolation which can cause or exacerbate depression. Visits and activities provide relief from isolation and loneliness, lifting residents’ spirits and fostering resilience against traumatic memories and depression. We are currently only able to do visits, but we are planning to increase our involvement by organizing events at the local care homes in the future. We believe that bringing in musicians and organizing cheer events would greatly enhance the effectiveness of this project.

We are also grateful to G-D for new open doors to encourage and bless new immigrant communities from the former Soviet Union through recent visits to the local immigrant absorption center in S'derot.