BACKGROUND
On October 7th, hundreds of Israeli children witnessed the unimaginable. ELI responded quickly with a team of therapists by October 9th, providing complex trauma relief and crisis intervention for more than 1,300 adults and 700 children, many of whom lost one or more parent; some children watched their parents perish in the most barbaric fashion.
We knew from our 45 years of experience that prompt action was required, since a positive encounter and professional treatment are needed soon after the traumatic events occur, in order to achieve the best outcomes and to try to avoid post-traumatic disorders.
The first stage of our intervention focused on reducing anxiety and trying to restore the basic abilities to function (speaking, eating and sleeping) for those who were uprooted from the safety and security of their homes, experiencing severe trauma, and whose future was uncertain.
Out of those with whom we met in the first weeks of the war, we selected 200 children and their families for long-term therapeutic intervention. Of those, we are treating at least 20 young women who were sexually abused; we believe that the real number is likely more as sexual abuse and rape were rampant.
The needs keep increasing… for example, we received hundreds of from families who were evacuated from their homes in the North and South. They are struggling to find help. Many are still in the hotels, and often without income. The families are living in one room “in a pressure cooker” and the children often suffer as a result- physically or emotionally, or are neglected. One case in particular was of a 14-year-old girl who has been walking around alone for months and her parents are drunk in their hotel room.
In addition, we recently learned of children who are self-harming at an increased rate as their way of coping with the stress.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
With the generous help of JFNA, various Federations, Foundations, and private donors, we have succeeded in raising the money needed for the initial phase of complex trauma relief in the hotels, and for about a year of long-term complex trauma relief and therapeutic intervention for at least 120 children and their families, at a cost of $5,000 per case. Additionally, therapy will likely be needed for many years for a good number of them.
We thank you in advance for your support in helping us provide long-term therapeutic and crisis intervention, and complex trauma relief for survivors of the October 7th massacre.