EMERGENCY RELIEF FOR ISRAEL AT WAR:
Yad Sarah Shelters Hundreds of Displaced Persons with Disabilities, the Elderly, in its World-Class Fully-Accessible Rehabilitation and Wellness Hotel
Israeli NGO opens doors of its Yirmiyahu 33 Hotel to some of the most vulnerable in Israeli society as mass displacement intensifies amid escalating conflict
JERUSALEM, ISRAEL – October 22, 2023 –Yad Sarah, Israel’s largest nongovernmental social and healthcare service provider, has opened the doors of its state-of-the-art ‘Yirmiyahu 33’ Rehabilitation and Wellness Hotel in Jerusalem, providing shelter and care for displaced individuals with disabilities and the elderly.
The initiative is part of the Israeli NGO’s extensive and expanding, country-wide Emergency Wartime Relief Campaign, extending life-saving medical and rehabilitation support from the homefront to home care.
Amid Israel’s Internal Displacement Crisis: As the conflict escalates, the need for shelter and specialized care continues to grow. Yad Sarah’s hotel offers a sanctuary for hundreds of Israel’s over 120,000 internally displaced individuals from threat areas in Israel’s South and North. With many hotels in Israel reporting full occupancy due to the mass wartime displacement, Yad Sarah helps to fill a crucial gap, ensuring that those who require accessible conditions have access to vital services that they may not elsewhere.
As the first fully-accessible hotel in Israel, it offers evacuees a haven of respite to meet their individual needs for recuperation and rest. This includes specialized nursing care and deluxe rehabilitation facilities, including: full-board dining facilities, medical equipment, adjustable hospital beds, mobile hoists, medicines, and a volunteer-lead team that is available 24/7. The hotel is also home to The Center for Wellness and Respite, a unique haven for families coping with the tragedy of stillbirth. The Center – the first of its kind in Israel and possibly worldwide – has hosted 14 women or couples who had little else to turn to since the war began.
The hotel’s amenities and infrastructure are designed to be fully accessible for wheelchair users and those who have other physical disabilities and conditions. Amid the chaos of conflict, the hotel maintains an atmosphere of serenity and tranquility to ensure as much comfort and compassion as possible during these turbulent times.
An Integral Part of Yad Sarah’s Comprehensive Relief Campaign: To meet the heightened crisis demand, the organization’s branches and thousands of volunteers have broadly expanded their activities. This includes the evacuation by volunteer drivers of Yad Sarah’s wheelchair- accessible van unit (nechnoit) of around 100 residents from combat zones in the South, including those with disabilities; establishing three new forward-facing branches (Dead Sea hotels area, Bnei Zion Hospital – Haifa, & Bat Yam); bolstering long-term stock of medical equipment, home hospitalization configurations, and urgent care services to expedite the discharge of war wounded and alleviate hospital overload; providing care at the Frenkel Emergency Center free-of-charge for evacuees; and delivering over NIS 250,000 worth of critical medicines to threatened areas, at no cost.
“The atrocities of October 7 and subsequent war have painstakingly impacted the entire country, being that it is so small. Now, more than ever, we are rising to our mission of providing individualized and nuanced support to nearly every family in Israel, ensuring that life goes on,” said Moshe Cohen, CEO of Yad Sarah. “Yad Sarah’s Rehabilitation and Wellness Hotel stands as a beacon of hope during these challenging times, exemplifying the power of unity and compassion within Israel’s community.”
To support Yad Sarah’s ongoing efforts and learn more about its initiatives, please visit: https://yadsarah.org/
###
About Yad Sarah:
Yad Sarah, the leading volunteer-staffed organization in Israel, provides a vital array of compassionate health and home care services for people of all ages.
Founded in 1976, Yad Sarah has 126 branches throughout Israel staffed by more than 7,000 volunteers. Although the organization is best known for its extensive lending service for medical equipment, its volunteers also drive its wheelchair-accessible vans, reach out to the homebound, advocate for the elderly at risk for abuse, provide in-home geriatric dental care, staff its play center, and more. Nearly every family in Israel has been impacted or helped by Yad Sarah.. Yad Sarah saves Israel’s healthcare system over NIS 5.5 billion ($1.5 billion USD) each year through its home hospitalization equipment lending services.
About Yirmiyahu 33:
Yad Sarah’s ‘Yirmiyahu 33’ Rehabilitation and Wellness Hotel is Israel’s first fully-accessible luxury hotel, serving as a vital bridge in the recovery journey following medical treatment and before the transition to home-based rehabilitation. Guests enjoy comprehensive para-medical services, personalized nutrition, and tailor-made accommodations. The hotel is home to The Center for Wellness and Respite, a unique haven for families coping with the tragedy of stillbirth, a first in Israel and possibly worldwide. With 200 top-standard, fully-accessible rooms, the hotel prioritizes the highest level of individualized comfort during the recovery phase. More details can be found in Hebrew at: https://y33.co.il/
Photos courtesy Yad Sarah
