It's About More Than Just Jobs

JobKatif is not your average employment agency.

Since Israel’s disengagement from the Gaza Strip in 2005, the non-profit organization has worked to help former residents of Gush Katif (a block of 17 settlements in Gaza), as well as the four communities in the northern part of Samaria that were evacuated at the same time, find employment.

When most people think about disengagement, they think of homes being evacuated. What many do not realize is that 85 per cent of the residents of Gush Katif also worked there.

“A day after the disengagement, not only had they lost their homes and communities, but they’d lost their source of income because their places of work had literally been destroyed,” said JobKatif executive director Judy Lowy, who will be in Toronto from Friday, May 7 until Tuesday, May 11 to raise awareness and funds for JobKatif (since 2009, the agency has been receiving matching government funds for each donation).

There was a thriving agricultural industry in Gush Katif. The land was too sandy to farm but residents built hothouses that were extremely successful. So successful in fact that Gush Katif’s organic vegetable industry produced 70 per cent of Israel’s organic vegetable exports and 60 per cent of its geraniums.

The people there were employed not only in agriculture, but also in accounting, marketing, packing and small businesses, including repair shops and cottage industries. There were also many jobs in education, from preschools to Yeshivat Hesder, as families had lots of children.

Most of the people are still living in temporary trailer homes set up by the government until new communities can be built for them. Compounding the employment problem, the majority of the trailers were not ready when disengagement happened and families with four to six children were put into single hotel rooms, mainly in Jerusalem.

JobKatif was founded by Rabbi Yosef Zvi Rimon, a Torah scholar who is the rabbi of Alon Shvut South, almost by accident.

“He didn’t plan to set up such an organization, it just happened,” said Lowy.

She explained that the day after the disengagement, Rabbi Rimon received a phone call asking him to go to the hotel to check on what was happening. Once there, he found that nothing had been arranged for the families. He set up activities for the children and helped parents with their day to day needs.

Before long, he realized that the people had nothing to do. They were depressed, in shock and didn’t know what to do next. When he found that there were no agencies assisting them to find work, he decided to help them get jobs and things blossomed from there. Others volunteered. JobKatif was born.

“There worst thing is to be sitting around all day and not have some kind of framework to your day,” said Lowy. “(Rabbi Rimon) realized that these were industrious people who’d worked very hard in Gush Katif and they needed work, both in order to support their families and for their dignity.”

In 2006, JobKatif became a registered non-profit organization and is still the only body that is helping the former residents of Gush Katif with their employment needs.

For the people of Gush Katif, leaving their community was a difficult experience and the transition has not been easy. While the Israeli unemployment rate hovers between 7 and 8 per cent, the rate for the former residents of Gush Katif is 21 per cent.

“When people turn to us for help, the case worker calls them up and goes and visits them in their trailer home and goes to work with them in their home and it’s on a one-to-one basis,” said Lowy.

The organization has been very successful due to this unique methodology. The case workers who make home visits are mostly former residents of Gush Katif who have been trained in vocational case work. It takes time because even five years later, many are still in a “post-trauma” mode.

They give financial assistance by providing employment incentives to employers (paying half a salary for two months when someone starts a job). They have two full time business advisors on hand to help build business plans and make sure small businesses will be viable, as well as retraining courses and startup business grants. They also have volunteer placements for those not yet ready to enter the job market.

So far, they have helped 1,500 people find jobs, financed 300 people to attend retraining courses and helped 160 others set up new businesses. In July 2008, Rabbi Rimon received the Presidential Award for Volunteerism. However, the work is not done. There are still 1,000 families who need employment assistance.

Eighty-five per cent of the people are still in trailers. Their new communities are only now being built. Some of the families, unable to find employment, have been living off the compensation money that was supposed to go toward purchasing a new house.

“Now the government is beginning to lay the foundations for these new communities. The full extent of the problem is about to hit,” said Lowy. “Our employment advisors try to get through to them and say, ‘If you’re using up your money what are you going to do to build your house?'”

The longer someone is out of work, the harder it is to re-enter the job market, she added.

“Once they start working, a transformation takes place. A lot of these people have lost their self-confidence,” she said.

To learn more or to donate, visit jobkatif.org.il or contact Judy Lowy at judy@jobkatif.org