HaBayit shel Benji’s Guidance and Support Center open to all lone soldiers (not just to residents of the Home) provides support programs for 300 lone soldiers a year as they make the difficult transition from army to civilian life. The goal is to help the soldiers achieve sufficient stability to become independent, productive and well-adjusted citizens.
 

Lone soldiers do not have a supportive family who will be there for them if they make mistakes, get themselves into debt or choose an education track that is wrong for them. This is why it is so important to provide them with support and guidance as they navigate the transition from military to civilian life.
 

The programs offered address the areas necessary to any citizen in Israel: finding a job while deliberating about a future career; finding a place to live and furnishing it; learning how to manage finances wisely; higher education; immigration procedures and dealing with Israeli bureaucracy.
 

Our guidance and support process begins two to three months before the end of their service. We contact the soldier and together develop a comprehensive guidance and support program that addresses all the subjects listed above.

 

Then we link each soldier with a mentor, chosen on the basis of similar background and location. For instance, we will link a new immigrant from the Ukraine with a Russian-speaking mentor; a soldier who left his religious lifestyle will be linked with a mentor who has also left a religious background behind, etc.
 

Where there is a recurring issue for soldiers from a particular background, we will develop and provide a workshop that will help them all. Our mentors are volunteers who dedicate much of their free time to helping lone soldiers advance their life goals. We spend a great deal of time and effort recruiting and training volunteers and building them into a professional, supportive team.
 

In 2015 we created an Intranet forum with all the training materials, updates and relevant contact informating for our mentors and lecturers.
The forum is accessible to the soldiers, mentors and our experts in various fields to facilitate the sharing of information and knowledge.

 

For further information please contact Dana Barzilay, Director of the Guidance and Support Center.     
 

Tel: 054-4254123    Email: dana@benjihillman.org