Yinon—A Home Away From Home
at the Fellowship House

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Yinon is an outgoing and personable nine-year-old boy. He laughs easily and other children say that he is constantly telling jokes to entertain them.

Yinon's upbeat personality, however, masks the difficulties he faces at home. His father is sick and unable to work, and his mother is pregnant and stays home to care for his two-year-old sister. Yinon's mother previously worked as a cleaner, but she will most likely be unable to work until the baby is born and can go to day care.

Because of his father's illness, Yinon's parents were not able to give him the guidance and supervision he needed. He often skipped school. Finally, the local social service agency threatened to remove Yinon from his home unless his parents agreed to send him every day to the nearby Fellowship House.

The Fellowship House for Children and Youth at risk, funded by the Guardians of Israel program, offers a safe place for disadvantaged neighborhood children to gather after school. Staffed by student volunteers, the House provides these children with a hot meal and a variety of activities such as art, music, and dance classes, and also offers them assistance with their homework.

Thanks to the Fellowship House, Yinon is now one of the top students in his class. "In the past I never had anyone to help me with my homework," he says. "Now that I come to the Fellowship House every day, the counselors sit down with me and help me whenever I need them."

For children like Yinon the Fellowship House is more than just a place to go after school—"It's a place where we can come and forget about anything bad that's going on at home," he says. "It's important that we have a place to come where we can do fun things and talk about what's bothering us." Please donate to Guardians of Israel today and give hope and comfort to Israel's children.