Sderot’s Protected Factory  - Occupations for People with Disabilities

Joining the workforce gives people with disabilities new dimensions to their lives, helps them integrate into the community and supports their rehabilitation.  In Israel there are not enough occupational frameworks for people with severe disabilities.  Gvanim Association has run Sderot’s Protected Factory since 2004 as part of their service network for the disabled in Sderot and the region. This network includes protected housing, life-skills training, social clubs and more.

Today, more than 60 adults with physical, mental and emotional disabilities are employed in the Factory’s workshops.  The Factory offers packaging and assembly services to businesses in the area and dairy kosher catering services.  Employees who are capable of doing so are encouraged to work in local businesses.  About 15 have been placed in outside employment to date.

The Protected Factory is only partially sheltered from incoming rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip. As the security crisis intensifies in Sderot, and the rockets fall more frequently, the Factory’s employees are increasingly anxious and frightened at work.  Rockets have frequently fallen near the Factory and most of the employees, because of their disabilities, have great difficulty reaching the shelters in less than 15 seconds.  (Because Gaza is less than a kilometer from Sderot, air-raid sirens can give at most 15 seconds from rocket launch to target).  We hope that in 2008 the Factory will receive full protection from rockets.

Gvanim thanks its Program Partners:  The National Insurance Institute, The Ministry of Social Services, the Ministry of Health, Sderot Municipality, The Shalem Foundation, the Rashi Foundation