The Joseph Storehouse
Vision for Israel & The Joseph Storehouse seeks to help all those in Israel in desperate need. Tragically, that describes many elderly Israelis, including Holocaust survivors. According to Bitut’ach Le’umi (Israel’s Social Security) reports, there are around 170,000 pensioners in Israel living under the poverty line, and 85% of those are immigrants.
This matches what we experience working closely to help those who find themselves fighting poverty in their old age. We are gearing up for an effort to help 300 Holocaust survivors in June, in addition to our ongoing assistance to the elderly. Donations from VFI make a huge difference because many of the elderly are spending half of their pension just on housing (nearly 200,000 pensioners are in this unsustainable situation, according to the Social Security reports).
Sadly, many of these poor elderly citizens are also Holocaust survivors. Today in Israel, there are some 150,700 survivors of the Holocaust according to the Brookdale Institute. Every hour at least one Holocaust survivor passes away, according to a study by the Foundation for the Benefit of Holocaust Victims in Israel. We feel strongly that after surviving Nazi brutality in their youth, these victims should be able to spend their last years in Israel with dignity.
Vision for Israel & The Joseph Storehouse provides assistance each year to many of these survivors. Food and medicine are especially urgent for these now elderly victims who once suffered Nazi persecution. We give vouchers to purchase food, clothing and other basic needs. We also provide medical assistance in the form of walkers, canes, wheelchairs and medical supplies of all kinds. And our program to distribute blankets and heaters for the winter has become critically important for many during the winter months.
Another population in dire need is that of elderly immigrants from the former Soviet Union. Of the nearly 1 million who came to Israel since 1989, 20% are now 65 or older, and more than 35% are 55 or older. Like many elderly immigrants, the Jews who came from Communist Russia have found that they were unable to work in Israel either long enough or at high enough wages to build up an adequate pension or enough savings for retirement, according to Dr. Ze’ev Hanin, chief scientist at the Ministry of Absorption in an interview with the newspaper Yisrael Hayom. Yet, they make just enough pension to be ineligible for other government assistance programs.
With your help, Vision for Israel & The Joseph Storehouse has reached out to many elderly Israelis who fall into this gap. We will continue to strive to bless them with health and dignity.