Passover Newsletter: Action in Corona times

Shalom,

We thought that our Passover newsletter would look completely different, but reality struck. Unlike past years, this Pesach which we usually celebrate as a festival of Freedom, is dominated by isolation and seclusion, and spring is taking on a different significance as well.

Despite this challenging reality, we choose to keep you informed about what’s happening in Sheatufim. Thankfully, we are able to continue operations at this time, with modified work procedures, as the situation requires.

Like many others, we have adjusted ourselves to the new limitations, with the goal of continuing to promote collaborative social impact. These days, we understand its importance and necessity more than ever.

Below you will find a brief update on our core activities and get a glimpse of how we are harnessing our experience and skill in managing and leading multi-sector collaborative action to benefit society in this challenging time, through involving philanthropy, business and social organizations, in coordination with government ministries.

It is clear to all of us that we are in the midst of a formative event that will make its mark in unimaginable and unpredictable ways. We hope that we will come out of this crisis stronger and that we will continue to work together to create social change and to improve the social and overall resilience of Israel that is currently being tested.

We wish you as Happy a Passover as possible at this time,

Sheatufim team

"Vashamarta" venture - saving the elderly in the geriatric institutions from the Corona virus

"Vashamarta" is an initiative of Roni Duek, the chairman of Sheatufim, aiming to address the needs of the elderly, hospitalized in geriatric institutions in Israel. This population is particularly vulnerable to the corona virus.

About 300 geriatric institutions operate in Israel through private companies, associations and government agencies. The population of elderly people living in institutions is threatened both by the danger of infection with the Corona virus as well as increased feelings of loneliness and depression.

The "Vashamarta" initiative aims to support institutions for the elderly population in Israel through supplying protective gear for workers, increasing protection of the residents, improving work processes, and strengthened the mental resilience of residents and the care-giving staff.

The venture was co-founded by Sheatufim, the National Initiatives Fund and the Zionist 2000 Organization. The venture has already attracted additional partners from the business and social sectors. We are working in full coordination with the Ministry of Health and other government ministries. You are invited to read about the operation on the project website, and join us in any way you choose. You can also contact us at contact@veshamarta.com

The 5X2 Initiative - promoting effective STEM learning in times of crisis

These days are increasingly demonstrating the power of a well-established, multi-sector partnership, illustrating the added value of institutionalized and organized collaborative action, and the benefits offered by the Collective Impact model for solving complex problems. The 5X2 Initiative and its seven-year-old network of partners, has been working in new ways, meeting the challenges facing the education system at this time, particularly in the field of science education. The close partnership with the Ministry of Education stands firm in these days and helps guide the efforts.

The Initiative team now operates along two paths simultaneously: the main one is a "crisis path" which is intended to harness infrastructure, work mechanisms, and the tools of the 5X2 Initiative and Sheatufim to promote effective learning in the education system, with emphasis on the STEM curriculum and the attempt to reduce gaps between students in the center and the periphery.

In this framework, a process coordinated with the Business Coalition was set in motion to create a pool of volunteer engineers, in response to the needs of distance learning students and teachers at the national level, with an emphasis on the periphery.

Another process has been set in motion as a direct response to the needs of the third sector, with the aim of serving all members of the partner network by concentrating information on STEM curriculum activities and programs currently under way.

At the same time, the 5X2 team is also working to connect and strengthen the relationship between the 5X2 Initiative and the STEM Ecosystem in Be'er Sheva and the Negev Clusters, in an effort to produce coordinated activity that will address the needs of the periphery at this time.

Alongside all of these activities, we are also focusing on “the day after” in the context of promoting excellence in technological science education. All this, with the understanding that the strategy of the initiative will be designed and modified in accordance with the insights learned from the Corona crisis and its impact on the education system.

Civil Leadership Questionnaire for social organizations dealing with the Corona crisis

Third-sector organizations are currently suffering serious damage with many implications, as employers, as providers of services and as vibrant organizations with independent income and income from donations. Sheatufim is geared to assist Civil Leadership in their efforts to work with the government, and on other fronts to create systemic solutions for organizations to enable them to make their contribution to the national mission.

For the purpose of formulating these responses, we assisted in the construction of a questionnaire aimed at gathering comprehensive information from all civil society organizations regarding their condition in the wake of the Corona crisis. The responses to this questionnaire will assist the government in making decisions and formulating solutions to meet the needs of the entire third sector in Israel.