Acceptance of Village Residents
In our rural community, adults with special needs live in group homes together with host families and their children, and young volunteers from Israel and abroad.
The community is built around the concern for the optimal development of the residents. It is designed to meet their complex and changing needs. The residents are integrated into a varied and interesting social environment.We maintain a healthy lifestyle built on high-quality nutrition and physical activity.
Belonging
The members live in a family setting with adults and children, and with a young team of careres. The residents are essential partners in creating and maintaining the fabric of home life. The staff members, host families, and volunteers accompany the residents throughout the day. Since they stay for long periods of time, they develop close and special relationships.
Meaningful Work
There is no occupation in Kfar Rafael – there is meaningful work. The residents take active part in a variety of specialized workshops, according their abilities and preferences. The residents and volunteers experience the satisfaction of being part of the entire creative process from the raw materials to the finished product, and the pride in sharing the fruit of their labor with others.
Growth
The village residents receive a variety of treatments and therapies.They take part in group activities such as drama and movement, enrichment classes, language studies, and content-rich learning in various subjects. The natural environment andHealthy noursihment for the soul enable residents to realize their full potential.
Man is not being who stands still. He is a being in the process of becoming.
The more he enables himslef to become, the more he fulfills his true mission.
Rudolf Steiner
The healthy way of life in the village is expressed on several levels. The nutrition in the village is diverse and high quality, overseen by a dietitian). We eat organic food as often as possible, Some of it comes from our own biodynamic crops. We use ecologically safecleaning materials and recycle as much as possible. We live in a quiet rural environment, blossoming with plants, trees, and flowers. We have connections with the animals that live with us and around us. We encourage physical activity and nature walks.
Introductory video to Kfar Rafael
Undecided?
Parents whose adult children have developmental disabilities usually have three options:
1
"Home is best"
One option is for the children to remain in their parents’ home. The benefits of this are obvious. The disadvantage is that as the parents age, it becomes difficult for them to care for their son or daughter. Also, it is more difficult for a disabled person to adapt to outside housing after many years in their parents’ home.
2
Community housing
Community housing refers to residence in a group home in the city, with often includes an arrangement for sheltered employment. The benefits are having a life which is as “normal” as possible. The disadvantages are the partial adjustment of the residents’ living environment to their special needs, limited protection and oversight, and little control over the experiences to which the residents are exposed.
3
"Living in an institution"
Living in an institutional framework includes employment and other services. The advantages are that the residents are protected and the services are adapted to residents’ special needs. The disadvantage is the institutionalized residential environment, which is not family-oriented and is less diverse.
At Kfar Rafael, we make an effort to combine the best of each of these options. We enable residents to integrate into a rich, diverse, and normative social life within a protected environment adapted to their abilities and needs. For the residents, Kfar Rafael is a home for life and a safe, appropriately adapted community in which they enjoy the best of both worlds.
In the village, the residents live together with families and their children, and young volunteers from Israel and abroad. The residents are real and vital partners in the life of the community. We strive to meet the abilities and limitations of each member of the community.
It should be noted that placement in the village is done only through the division for the provision of treatment services for individuals with developmental disabilities in the Ministry of Social Affairsand in coordination with a community social worker. Only residents who are under the care of this division may be admitted.
You can contact us through our website.
What do the family members of the village residents say?
"We greatly appreciate the devoted care our family member receives in all aspects of his life, in terms of employment, social, health, nutrition, leisure, and making a personalized plan for his development. The integration of residents into a family with house parents and their children is the most important aspect of community life. This doesn’t exist in any other available housing framework.”
"There are so many aspects of the village that make it extraordinary -- the families, the children, the staff, the volunteers, all the residents with their variety of special needs -- together they create an atmosphere of normality and give our special children positive examples of mutual help. I have seen the wonderful care the village residents show each other and the sense of family and love that it creates."
"When my friends ask me where my brothers live, I smile and the word "paradise" is always in the first sentence. I find it difficult to imagine a safe framework that would be healthier and more productive for my brothers and all the other residents. The wonderful concept of self-actualization that underlies Kfar Rafael is not abstract or vague, but an everyday goal to which the residents aspire."
"We greatly appreciate the devoted care our family member receives in all aspects of his life, in terms of employment, social, health, nutrition, leisure, and making a personalized plan for his development. The integration of residents into a family with house parents and their children is the most important aspect of community life. This doesn’t exist in any other available housing framework.”
"There are so many aspects of the village that make it extraordinary -- the families, the children, the staff, the volunteers, all the residents with their variety of special needs -- together they create an atmosphere of normality and give our special children positive examples of mutual help. I have seen the wonderful care the village residents show each other and the sense of family and love that it creates."
"When my friends ask me where my brothers live, I smile and the word "paradise" is always in the first sentence. I find it difficult to imagine a safe framework that would be healthier and more productive for my brothers and all the other residents. The wonderful concept of self-actualization that underlies Kfar Rafael is not abstract or vague, but an everyday goal to which the residents aspire."