Therapeutic Vacation Camps

Orr Shalom family group homes close for Sukkot, Chanukah, Pesach and during August to give House Parents and professional staff a short but critical break from their demanding responsibilities, and to enable them to attend training seminars and renovate homes. Where possible Orr Shalom children visit their biological or extended families during these times. However, many of these children are either orphans with no family at all or they come from domestic situations that are so violent, abusive or dysfunctional that it is impossible for them to go home. Due to their traumas, these children cannot attend normative camps. 

To ensure that they remain in a safe, caring and educational framework and do not regress to past destructive behaviors, Orr Shalom runs a successful residential camp for 45 children. Operating four times a year, in the Kfar Hassidim Youth Village, the camp provides an opportunity for structure, constructive activities and enrichment. Orr Shalom’s Camp runs at full capacity with 45 children during Sukkot, Chanukah, and Pesach vacations, and during the month of August.

Orr Shalom's therapeutic vacation camps are all held at the Kfar Hassidim Youth Village, which offer us full accommodation including meals, and a wonderful campus which incorporates: a 250 acre site, a therapeutic petting zoo, swimming pool, a synagogue, a library, several small halls for activities, a cow dairy, as well as amazing attractions in the nearby area and very large pastoral green spaces that the children will be able to roam freely. We are very pleased with our new 'home' for the camps and are excited for this joint partnership between Orr Shalom and the Kfar Hassidim Youth Village.

Each year, the Camps also run an empowering leadership program for promising youngsters which enables 12 Orr Shalom teens, ages 15-16, to work as "Counselors in Training".  This provides the adolescents with an opportunity to assume responsibility, develop leadership skills and serve as role models for younger children. This program teaches responsibility, confidence, organization and teamwork and is something to which the younger children aspire.

The Camps are led by the Program Director and staffed by a team of professionals who are trained and supervised by Orr Shalom. The staff includes experienced counselors, all of whom maintain a connection with the children in the Orr Shalom homes attending the camp, and Sherut Leumi volunteers. There is a high staff-child ratio at all camps to guarantee the care and supervision that these children require.

During the camps, a team of psychologists and social workers are on call to address any needs that might arise. In addition, as some of the children are on medication, the camp staff ensure that the children continue to receive their medication as well as any care that they may need.  The staff provides ongoing reports to the children's House Parents and therapeutic staff about the progress of the children.

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Orr Shalom's Therapeutic Vacation Camps are partnered with Kfar Hassidim Youth Village

Orr Shalom's Therapeutic Vacation Camps are encouraged by the Matanel Foundation