Orr Shalom Family Group-Homes Stories

Eyal*, Orr Shalom family group-home

My name is Eyal, and I have lived in an Orr-Shalom family-group home for ten years. My life wasn't good at home, and I was happy to go to Orr Shalom. My brothers were already living there, and they told me how good it was. I remember that during my first months in the home I was very naughty and used to run away from school. The house-mother quickly set boundaries and established order in my life. Then I was joined by two other boys my age, with whom I formed a strong connection. Today I see them as brothers. Thanks in part to the extra tuition Orr Shalom has given me, I have been getting good grades, and I'm about to graduate from high-school. Next year I will join the IDF. Although I'm considered a "lone soldier", and I'm eligible for extra money and privileges, I've given up on this status. I feel I've received a lot over the course of my life, and now I want to give back. When I return to my old neighborhood, and I see children my age doing drugs and skipping school, it's clear to me that I would be doing the same if I hadn't been living in an Orr Shalom family group-home. 

Smadar, house-mother in Eyal's Orr Shalom family group-home for 12 years

Eyal came to us from a distressed neighborhood where there were very difficult social conditions. He came from a poor household, with an elderly father and a mother who was a gambler. From a young age, Eyal used to wander the streets until the early hours of the evening. He didn't go to school, was neglected at home, and completely lacked boundaries. When he arrived at the home, aged seven, he used to walk round with a bottle and a diaper. At the beginning he used to check things all the time. He wasn't used to any sort of education. He would hide himself under the tables, make voices, never listen to the teachers, and run away from class. I began weaning him away from the bottle and the diaper, exactly like I would with an infant. The Orr Shalom staff designed a therapeutic program for him, with full cooperation from the school. We taught him what he needed to bring to school, and how he needed to behave during class, and he began to integrate more. He soon became very sociable. Within three or four months he went through dramatic changes, and began life in a new, positive direction. Today he is a serious young man, and he has a great motivation to succeed. He receives excellent marks – never less than 90! He is doing a full matriculation and will soon join the army. I have no doubt that he will succeed in whatever path he chooses.
 

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