ELEM 28th Gala Dinner

Ann Bialkin’s remarks

Wow! Can you believe ELEM has been in existence over 28 years? And many of
you here tonight, coming both from Israel and America, you have been involved with
ELEM most of those 28 years. So many old and new dear friends – and, as you see,
ELEM is now full of many young people, both from Israel and the United States, who
will assure us that we will continue our important work in the years ahead. Thank you for
coming tonight to celebrate the thousands of Israeli youngsters who have developed into
productive Israeli citizens because of your support and your hard work.

Let’s think briefly about the history of ELEM. You heard from Nava what a large
important organization ELEM has become. How did it happen? 28 years ago – we did not
exist. Only rarely a person, in Israel or America, knew or thought about ELEM’s cause of
supporting neglected, delinquent, Israeli youth. ELEM started with very few people and
started in America. We can name the original founders on one hand, some of them are
with us this evening, still working for ELEM after 28 years. Please rise when I call your
name. They are Efrat Abrams, Bobbie Glass, Barbara Sassoon, Becky Rozen from
America. The others are still with us in spirit – and some still help. They are Dina and
Rafi Recanati and the Israel Discount Bank, May and Arnie Forster, Nuisia and Aron
Chiliwich, Suzanne and Lionel Pincus, Atara and Yosi Ciechanover, Marian and Elie
Wiesel, Blanche Bernstein, and Maureen and Marshall Cogan. As I said before, many of
the other people in the room tonight joined ELEM not long after – and are still working
for ELEM – 28 years later. They and all the rest of us are very proud that we were the
beginning of such a needed and successful effort. ELEM started with very few people.
An Israeli Family Court Judge, Savionah Rotlevy, who came to America on sabbatical
with her husband, David Rotlevy, the then Israeli Economic Minister; An Israeli Social
Worker, Josepha Steiner, who came to America to work at my social agency, The Jewish
Board of Guardians. I met her at the Board. I was working as a Social Worker, working
with similar youth in America's family courts. They talked with me about Israeli youth
from the Israeli Courts with the same problems as in America, and these youngsters did
not have advocates and did not get proper help. We started a small group of professional
and lay people in America, working with the same kind of youngsters. This small group
had two main interests that brought us together - Israel and its children.

We began to talk and compare experiences. That was the beginning of sharing
professional expertise in both countries - a sharing that continues until today where we
have international telephone calls each month to discuss in detail each professional issue.
This sharing of experiences in both countries has brought to fruition many of our most
important projects.

Even 28 years ago, the statistics in Israel were staggering, though Israel was much
smaller then. Over 25,000 Israeli youth neither worked nor went to school and over
10,000 youth went through the Juvenile Courts each year for delinquencies. These youth
represented 10% of all Israeli youth between 14 to 18. Who thought that delinquencies
like this could occur in Israel? These problems were unknown and ignored by large
sectors of the Israeli population, and unknown in America as well. What could be done?
These youth had no advocates, few facilities or funds available to help them. So - ELEM
was founded in America in 1981 - in Israel in 1982. It also started in Israel with very few
people. Yochanan Wozner, Dean of Tel Aviv School of Social Work, Miriam Golan, a
Social Worker and Administrative Director at Tel Aviv University, and a Memi de Shalit
and a very few other Founders brought the professional needs of delinquent youth to the
consciousness of national and local government officials, and brought fresh professional
ideas and resources to the treatment of these youth.

We brought the best professional ideas from both Israel and America - and these
ideas remain equally important today. For example, twenty-eight years ago hostels for
delinquents were isolated facilities scattered across Israel. In contrast, ELEM initiated the
first community based hostels, which placed these children in hostels close to their own
homes, in their own communities where the whole family could be worked with and
rehabilitation was the result. We introduced family intervention throughout the whole
Welfare Department, and working with families became a common ingredient in
rehabilitating these youngsters. We also brought in educational services, computer
literacy programs, on-going seminars, conferences where the whole Welfare Department
began to share information. In time, we began professional missions back and forth
between Israel and America, looking and comparing different projects in both countries -
and these valuable missions continue today.

You have heard from Nava how we have grown in the last 28 years. We grew
when the needs changed and expanded. At first, there was always denial of problems.
Homeless, runaway youth? Prostitutes, sex offenders? Russian, Ethiopian teenagers -
having problems adjusting to Israel - increasing violence, family dysfunction, alcohol,
drugs? Hard to believe, but little by little people acknowledged the problems - and little
by little we find resources, develop facilities, and prepare the proper treatment. And, most
often, we help immeasurably.

How do we handle all these problems? In my opinion, we are very fortunate in

that Israel has the best, the most capable and the most willing volunteers helping our
distressed youth of any country that I have ever seen. We have close to 2,000 volunteers,
working 2-3 days a week, in all our projects. We could not exist without these
unbelievably caring, willing volunteers who work at times 2-3 years, and consistently
every week. We also have over 200 extremely well-trained professionals working long,
difficult hours each week, helping train these volunteers and helping run our many
complicated projects with their diverse and needy teenagers.

And then we come to why I have devoted 28 years of my life - also very
consistently, year after year, to ELEM. I think most volunteers and staff would have the
same answer as I have. The satisfaction you get far outweighs the many problems which
most of our children have. Our ELEM youth have tremendous capabilities if they are
properly treated and helped. And to see the results of our caring and our hard work - I can
only thank ELEM. Also I have learned that ELEM brings me "double pleasure" both in
helping the children and, in some small way, helping Israel and its people which has
become an essential part of my identity. My Israeli friendships have deepened, and my
devotion to the country of Israel has become a large part of my existence. Thank you,
ELEM, for all these pleasures.