The Attentive Hearts (Ozen Lalev) project
The Attentive Hearts project
(Ozen Lalev, Israel) is a Non-Profit Charity, acknowledged by the
Israeli State Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Social Services
and certified by the Ministry of Education, both as a platform that
enables every willing adult regardless of their age, gender, physical
condition and education to do for others, and as a one of a kind service
provider who professionally trains volunteers as emotional support
givers and coordinates their often life saving activities with the
weakest members of the community.
The Attentive Hearts team of professionally trained supporters
is composed of exceptional and unique individuals, most of whom are considered
vulnerable or disadvantaged in today's society for having mobility
disabilities, visual or hearing impairments, chronic illnesses, being
pensioners, coming from at-risk backgrounds or for facing numerous
other challenges in life. Those graduates of our professional
workshops in the art of Emotional Support, go out into the community
and offer those in need support and a listening ear, in old age
nursing homes, in hospitals and rehabilitation, oncology and dialysis
centers and wards, in shelters for abused women and runaway youth, and
in an ever growing range of other institutions.
Thanks to the quality of our training program and volunteers, the
project has earned unprecedented reputation and recognition, including the
honor of being formally acknowledged as an educational program by the
Israeli Ministry of Education, securing the project unlimited access
to schools and to all government sanctioned educational and
rehabilitation institutions, thus becoming the only project allowed to
enter and support both the youths and the dedicated overworked staff.
The Attentive Hearts project is a Non-Profit Charity based on the
belief that every individual has a value and a function in the
community and with the goal of creating social ripples of unity,
personal empowerment, empathy, acceptance of others with
differences, and the internalization of their value as equals and not
as victims, while providing the community and those in need within it
our unique life-changing and often life saving emotional support
services.
To transform the role of being supported into becoming supporters, through the provision of an accessible and empowering life-changing experience. The project provides those considered unable and weak with emotional and social skills, combined with rare and vital tools for emotionally supporting others that they can use which most members of the community lack and search for.
To provide healing and support to many in the community who suffer
from depression, anxiety, frustration or isolation and who seek a
listening ear, emotional support, interpersonal and social
interactions in an informal, pleasant and inviting atmosphere.
To provide our team of volunteer supporters, comprised of the
"vulnerable" and "disadvantaged" in the community, an empowering,
respectable and significant role, developing a revolutionary social setting
as those who give support rather than receive it.
To have the community meet those who are considered different and
"weak" as equals and significant and valuable members of the community
with worth and ability – as supporters and not as the supported.
By working together - to create connections, camaraderie and a setting
of mutual assistance and support amongst members of the supporting
team as well as between the team of supporters and the
community.
Transforming the Supported into Supporters
