Creating engaged citizenry in Sderot:Empowering communities through rights advocacy

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SSRC SDEROT SOCIAL RIGHTS

CENTER

The Birth of a Rights Center in Sderot

The Sderot Social Rights Center -SSRC- is a community based action center that has been three years in the making. The Center is guided by a Rights-Based Community Practice (RBCP) model developed at McGill University that combines community organizing, social work and legal advocacy to empower individuals and communities to learn about and access their rights, to promote transparency in government and its institutions, and to ensure that the voices of the most disadvantaged are heard in civic life. The Sderot Center is a member of the International Community Action Network (ICAN), which oversees global expansion of the RBCP model.

Following an exhaustive community mapping process, identifying the strengths, needs and

concerns of Sderot residents - undertaken by Sderot residents together with Sapir College students- the Center began operating in the community in February 2012, with the official opening in January 2013. SSRC is part of a movement of engaged citizens, aware of their rights and their ability to affect positive change in their communities and their societies. The Center is operated under the auspices of the Department of Public Policy and Administration of Sapir College, and is driven by its community and student volunteers, overseen by an active and

engaged local steering committee.

Sderot is a hard working town in Israel’s south, less than

five kilometers from the border with the Gaza Strip. Of a population of some 23,000, more than 1000 families live in public housing and unemployment is high. Launched

as a development town to house new immigrants, Sderot is home to families of veteran immigrants from Arab

countries, as well as more recent arrivals from the Former Soviet Union and Ethiopia. It has been hard hit both by rockets from Gaza over the past several years and at times weak support from the central government, but its residents are resilient and have dreams. Sapir College, which has spearheaded this center, has provided

the opportunity for many first generation college students to get ahead in life, and a strong network of community organizations, which partner with our center, strive to improve the living conditions of Sderot residents and take part in nation-wide conversations to advance Israeli society. The SSRC has become a central player in

such efforts.

Sderot : Challenge and Opportunity

The ICAN connection

As a member of ICAN, SSRC has access to capacity building and training assistance, a cadre of professionals— Israelis trained at McGill but living in the Region—on which to draw, and

assistance with fund development and management. SSRC is a part of a global effort to expand

the use of rights-based community practice in international development projects.

SSRC’s Three-year founding processThe SSRC officially opened in January 2013 but it has been active in the community for some three years. The road to the Center’s launch has included three distinct phases to create a truly participatory rights center in Sderot, with the active engagement of the community in the process.

PHASE ONE: From Study to ActionBuilding on more than 10 years’ experience as part of ICAN’s implementation of Rights-Based

Community Practice (RBCP), the Center’s founders began conversations about bringing the RBCP model to Sderot, a perfect place for a participatory organization that could advance the rights of diverse marginalized populations. Beginning with an in-depth community mapping, involving Sapir College students and community residents, a core group of twenty volunteers was recruited, a steering committee was formalized, community outreach was begun and an intensive volunteer course was planned, all with the generous support of Sapir College.

PHASE TWO: From Residents to ActivistsImportant support from the JF Ross Family Foundation was secured and the volunteer course was launched. Academics and social activists shared their knowledge and expertise with a diverse group

of 20 volunteers. Volunteers learned how to run a ‘rights store’ to assist their peers in navigating

government bureaucracy and demanding their rights and entitlements, and an initial community project was launched. As years of rocket attacks from Gaza had led to not only trauma but damage to homes and businesses, the group determined to take on the issue of the mandated bomb shelters to which all were entitled but not all were built to specification in neighborhoods such as Kasdor. Residents organized together to make sure that these shelters were built to spec and residents could

live with heightened security. The campaign continues as many families still lack completed shelters.

PHASE THREE: Full Speed Ahead for Social ChangeToday, the Center is up and running, offering legal advice clinics, operating the rights storefront and

engaging in community organizing activities. New volunteer training courses began in January 2013

both for veteran volunteers and newcomers to expand the work of the Center. A storefront legal expert and a community organizer are in place, providing storefront services and guiding organizing

initiatives. Public Policy, Law and Social Work Students are assisting in the storefront and conducting

research; the SSRC is recognized as a “Flagship Program” by the Israeli Council of Higher Education, and is currently training fifteen students active in community work through the Community Involvement Department at Sapir College in rights-based community organizing. Also, community volunteers involved with the center, who once came in for assistance themselves, are now bringing

their experience to Sapir College classrooms, helping to engage ever more students in action for social change. In short, the Center is vibrant, active, growing and an integral part of the bright future of Sderot, engaging and empowering residents to lead the way in improving the city and society at large.

Faces of Change

SSRC c/o ICAN: 3506 University Street, Room 113, Montreal, Quebec H3A 2A7 Canada mmep@mcgill.ca www.mcgill.ca/mmep/israel/sderot t: +1(514)398-6717 f: +1(514)398-7241

Sderot Social Rights CenterSteering Committee

Dr. Merav Moshe Grodofsky, Senior Lecturer, Sapir College; Academic Director, SSRC, Sderot

Dr. Nachmi Paz, CEO, Sapir College

Dr. Daniel De Malach, Lecturer, Former Chair, Department of Public Policy and

Administration, Sapir College

Mr. Zohar Avitan, Executive Director, Pre-Academic Program, Sapir College, Veteran

Resident Sderot

Ms. Achlama Peretz, Director, Pre-Academic Program, Sapir College, Veteran

Sderot Resident

Ms. Niva Reem, Director, Collot BaNegev

Mr. Shimon Bloom, Adv., Lecturer, Sapir College; Director Legal Clinic (NII issues), Sderot

Mr. Meir Karp, Director, Mizrahi Bank, Qiryat Malachi

Ms. Yaffa Melese, Director, Youth Services, Sderot Social Services; Sderot Resident

Mr. Raanan Shaked, Community Activist; Sderot Resident

Dr. Eitan Shahar, Lecturer, Sapir College

The Center receives support from:

ANNUAL GIFTS

General SupportSSRC encourages unrestricted

general support gifts. Such

gifts provide SSRC the flexibility to direct funds where they are most urgently needed.

Program Designated GiftsYou can designate your gift to

SSRC’s work on the issue you

care most deeply about: housing, employment, women’s empowerment, youth, victims of violence, health and more.

PLANNED GIFTSPlanned gifts can be made by designating SSRC as the beneficiary of your will, life insurance policy or retirement plan, or by making a gift that provides you with income during your life.

ENDOWMENT GIFTS

An endowed fund can be established with a gift of $100,000 or more and will continue in perpetuity. The principal remains untouched

while the revenue generated

is used for the purposes recommended by the donor. Endowment gifts afford you the opportunity to have your name, or the name of a loved one you

wish to honor or memorialize, permanently associated with

SSRC.

Gifts from North America can be made to SSRC through ICAN at the McGill Middle East Program (MMEP) of McGill University. Such

gifts are tax deductible in Canada and the United States. McGill is recognized as a 501(c)(3) organization in the USA.

For more information about making a gift to SSRC, call David

Leduc at (514) 398-8006 or email david.leduc@mcgill.ca

There are many ways you can

support the Sderot Social Rights Center:

The J.F. Ross Family Foundation

* COVER PHOTO: A

Sderot home- rocket shrapnel pocks the facade but new grass continues to grow.

SSRC SDEROT SOCIAL RIGHTS

CENTER