Located in a pastoral beachside setting adjacent to the northern Israel coastal town of Akko, the “Nirim” Youth village is a last resort for at-risk teens before their potential deterioration into a life of crime, drugs and exclusion from the normative society.
In 2014, a pilot project at the village called “Shirat Hayam” (“song of the sea”) was activated. The project was focused around four young girls from “Nirim” who were on the verge of dropping out. During the course of this program, the girls lived in a large Yurt tent, providing them with only the most basic living conditions. There they underwent DBT (Dialectical Behavioral Therapy) and as a result of this pilot program, all four girls were rejuvenated and, to an extent, rehabilitated from the experience and returned back on-track at “Nirim”.
As a result of this positive outcome and due to a real need, the “Nirim” staff has decided to expand this project by establishing a permanent structure in the village that enables the successful absorption of additional troubled and uncooperative teen girls. By creating this kind of home for them, it provides for them a stable anchor and is a central factor that dramatically amplifies their rehabilitation. The “Shirat Hayam” project in its new permanent structure, enables the absorption of up to 12 girls and provides them with a greater degree of feeling protected, belonging, warmth and connection to family.
The program last for 40 weeks and aims to provide a protective ‘bubble of serenity’ and treatment based on the model of DBT (Dialectical Behavioral Therapy) – the only clinically-proven treatment model that has been highly effective in treating those girls with emotional inability to regulate. The desired final outcome is to enable these girls to return to their team at “Nirim” from a stronger place and effective tools to help them better adapt and finish the route.
The Galila Foundation assisted this program by helping to establish two classrooms in the appointed facility. The classrooms have since been set up and all of the necessary equipment has been purchased and installed. Galila n is delighted to have been able to assist the youth at “Nirim” Youth Village, helping them to return to a normative life path and develop them into contributing and caring citizens in the society where they live.