Akko branch serves one of Israel’s most diverse cities; Tiberias site is Yad Sarah’s 13th hospital branch.
Yad Sarah today announced its opening of two new branches, which will provide a vital array of free or low-cost health and home-care support services for people of all ages, marking the latest growth point for Israel’s largest volunteer-staffed organization.
The new Yad Sarah branch in Akko (Acre) will offer equipment lending, an equipment repair workshop, emergency alarm response, legal services, and wheelchair-accessible transportation in one of Israel’s most diverse cities. Seventy-two percent of Akko’s 55,000 residents are Jews, 25 percent are Muslim Arabs, and 2 percent are Christian Arabs, while almost 25 percent are new immigrants.
Located in a former air-raid shelter, the branch will significantly expand access to social services in a socioeconomically challenged area, as Akko residents previously needed to travel to Nahariya or Kiryat Motzkin to receive assistance from Yad Sarah — or missed out on the aid altogether.
In Tiberias, meanwhile, Yad Sarah has opened its 13th hospital-based branch at Poriyah Hospital. Yad Sarah’s hospital branches make it easier for patients and families to borrow equipment upon discharge. The organization also operates branches at Assouta Ashdod Hospital in Ashdod, Beilinson Hospital in Petach Tikvah, Hadassah Medical Center’s Mount Scopus and Ein Karem sites in Jerusalem, HaEmek Hospital in Afula, Hillel Yaffa Hospital in Hadera, Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv, Rambam Hospital in Haifa, Shaarei Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, Soroka Hospital in Be’er Sheva, Western Galilee Hospital in Nahariya, and Ziv Hospital in Tzefat.
The new branches in Akko and Tiberias represent the latest venues which will mobilize the energy and passion of Yad Sarah’s corps of 7,000-plus volunteers, who help provide access to medical equipment loans, drive wheelchair-accessible vans, reach out to the homebound, advocate for the elderly, serve children with special needs, and perform a wide array of other services for more than 600,000 people in Israel annually.
In yet another new development for Yad Sarah, the organization’s Kiryat Motzkin branch has moved to a nearby mall. It is the third Yad Sarah branch situated in a commercial shopping area, with these centrally-located sites offering their surrounding communities relatively easy access to social services.
“By broadening access to crucial support services in diverse communities, hospitals, and commercial centers, Yad Sarah affirms its mission to bring help and hope to the people of Israel,” said Adele Goldberg, Executive Director of Friends of Yad Sarah. “We are more committed than ever to serving all at-risk members of Israel’s population and ensuring that no member of Israeli society is left behind.”
About Friends of Yad Sarah: Friends of Yad Sarah is the U.S.-based support organization for the largest volunteer-staffed organization in Israel, providing a range of free or low-cost health and home care support services that save the Israeli economy several hundred million dollars each year in hospitalization and medical costs. Founded in 1976, Yad Sarah currently offers more than 20 programs through 100+ branches across the country, with 6,000 volunteers bringing help and hope to more than 400,000 people last year alone.
