Who are we?
Artisan Active Village NGO is working to establish a unique rehabilitation center for trauma victims (PTSD), both veterans and civilians, using the healing power of crafts. The center will offer a supportive environment that combines therapy, learning, and creativity to empower participants towards rehabilitation, personal resilience, and a sense of competence and meaning.
Why crafts?
Most rehabilitation frameworks in Israel today focus on emotional-psychological treatment. Our model offers an innovative approach: a combination of creativity and physical activity, emphasizing doing, which provides a sense of competence, achievement and meaning. Through working with their hands, participants will be able to develop self-confidence, reduce anxiety, find a future occupational direction, and re-establish their social skills.
What will the center offer?
The center will offer 8-10 workshops, each for up to 10 participants, in a variety of fields:
Carving and engraving, carpentry and woodcraft, leatherwork, pottery and ceramics, goldsmithing, wickerwork, growing spices and medicinal herbs, photography, technology and AI in design and computing.
Participants would be encouraged to alternate workshops and find the field that suits them best, to continue to develop a hobby, undergo professional training, and even integrate into future employment.
Where and when?
The center will be established in the coming months in an existing former school building in Moshav Bnei Atarot (near Ben Gurion Airport), which will undergo adjustments and accessibility for the disabled. The workshops will be adapted for trauma victims, some of whom are amputees.
Budget and opportunity for support
The establishment of the center requires a budget of approximately 2 million NIS (after donations and equipment of approximately half a million NIS that have already been collected), which will be allocated to renovating the building (25%), its accessibility (15%), and purchasing furniture and equipment for workshops (50%), and management and initial professional expenses (10%).
Funding for approximately 2/3 of the ongoing activity will be based on support from the Ministry of Defense and National Insurance. Additional assistance of donations of approximately 800 thousand NIS per year is required.