Shikum Acher

Shikum Acher (Alternative Rehabilitation) is a nonprofit organization, established in 2004. Our goal is to help people challenged by mental disorders by providing them with the tools & support that they need in order to realize their potential. Today in Israel, over 100,000 people suffer from a broad range of mental disorders, including anxiety and panic disorders, phobias, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress syndrome, schizophrenia, and clinical depression. Shikum Acher currently helps nearly 80 of these people. Recent reports indicate that people with mental disorders show significant improvement upon integrating successfully into the workforce as part of their rehabilitation process. Occupation establishes a normative routine, develops a positive self-image, provides a purpose in life, and broadens one’s social networks and interpersonal relationships. This is why we focus on providing our participants with the practical work skills and experience that lead up to their successful integration into the job market. Shikum Acher offers a number of unique rehabilitation opportunities for special-needs sectors. Our main program, “Creating with Love”, consists of a protected factory in which adults with mental disorders learn and work in various trades, including carpentry, artistic painting, mosaics, jewelry, furniture restoration, sewing, and DAS (air-drying modeling clay). The program’s caring staff members, rehabilitative guides, and social workers meet with each participant to help build an individualized work plan and offer direction and guidance. Due to the number and variety of the paths we offer, we ensure that participants are free to choose a vocational direction that interests them and expresses their individuality. In the past year, we established a unique employment project that helps participants of the “Creating with Love” program locate job openings in central Israel, under the direction and accompaniment of our social worker. This “Supported Employment” program assists participants in job-hunting, preparing for an interview, and finally integrating into a position in the mainstream job market. This process is not only conducive to the participants’ individual rehabilitation, but also a step towards improving society’s image of people with mental disorders. Shikum Acher also runs a second supplementary project, "Kelim Shluvim", which gives participants with mental disorders the opportunity to gain marketing skills and experiencing by selling the items produced in our protected factory. Participants in “Kelim Shluivm” manage the products website (please visit www.kelimshloovim.org.il) and oversee frontal and telephone sales. Please also visit our organization’s website at http://www.shikumacher.org.il/cat/2