The ADI Negev-Nahalat Eran Rehabilitation Village was awarded the Yigal Alon Award for Exemplary Pioneering Social Activities by the Palmach Generations Association at the 34th annual awards ceremony on Wednesday.
The village provides residential care to over 140 young people with disabilities, allowing them to live with a greater degree of independence and encouraging them to become productive members of society. It can house up to 230 residents from young adults to age 50, and its innovative features include a vocational workshop center, a dental clinic specially adapted to disabled patients and therapeutic gardens.
The facility was renamed for Eran Almog, the severely disabled son of ADI Negev chairman Maj-Gen. (Res.) Doron Almog, after his untimely passing in 2007 at age 23.
At the ceremony, prize committee member and former Palmach fighter Ada Feinberg-Sereni spoke movingly of her daughter Or-Li, who was born with cerebral palsy, and ADI Negev-Nahalat Eran: “If I had known then about ADI Negev-Nahalat Eran, maybe I would have been happy. It is a wonderful place that gives them [the residents] a sense of dignity and self-esteem,” she said. “Doron never forgot Eran. Because of him and Or-Li we have become better and stronger people, and we have learned to deal with life’s challenges.”
Accepting the prize on behalf of Almog, ADI honorary president Shlomi Avnon spoke of the village’s contribution to society. “The village’s existence is creating a change in society that allows us to take another step toward building a better society, a society to be emulated, a strong and powerful society we can be proud of,” he said.
