The Crossroads Center
Israel is facing a new and troubling reality: a growing number of at-risk youth on the streets of its largest cities. While many organizations have been established to meet the needs of these vulnerable teens, certain groups remain permanently and dangerously sidelined. One such population consists of hundreds of English-speaking youth. Wrongly stereotyped as members of an affluent and integrated immigrant community, they suffer from poverty, isolation, and neglect. They are estranged from any rehabilitative framework in which to recover and rejoin society.
For this reason, the Crossroads Center was established in 2001. The only organization actively targeting this particular group, it offers a range of intervention services to support those in need. A team of social workers, therapists, and volunteers works to ensure that as many at-risk teens as possible can be reached, assisted, and empowered.
We provide our clients with:
- information and resources
- recreational activities
- psychological care
- counseling
- referrals to other services
Our six certified social workers run the Center in the afternoon and evening. At night, they circulate the streets of downtown Jerusalem, seeking out English-speaking teens in distress. It is here that our staff begins to forge bonds with these youths, offering them immediate assistance when necessary and informing them of the long-term services Crossroads provides.
We offer emotional and psychological support as well as concrete guidance to all English-speaking give teens on the streets of Jerusalem. Our long term goal is to help teens turn their lives around… toward a path leading to a healthier future.