Ben-Gurion University, Rutgers and New Jersey and Delaware Federations Form Partnership To Expand Negev Project Vision
Ben-Gurion University, Rutgers and New Jersey and Delaware Federations Form Partnership To Expand Negev Project Vision
December 23, 2008
Negev Development & Community Programs, Press Releases
NEW YORK, December 16, 2008 — Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) is forming a partnership with the Rutgers University School of Social Work to expand Negev Project Vision, a successful community-based program that addresses the vision needs of poor, elderly populations in the Dead Sea region.
Social work students from BGU’s Charlotte B. and Jack J. Spitzer Department of Social Work and the School of Social Work at Rutgers University will work together to expand the Negev Project Vision to Arad and Tamar.
Eye disorders are linked to elderly mental health, behavior and social involvement. In Israel, these aging individuals, especially the 16 percent of elderly immigrants with fixed incomes, cannot afford expensive eye care services and are required to pay for routine eye examinations as well as eyeglasses.
To address this need, the Negev Vision Program was founded in 1997 by Prof. Richard Isralowitz of BGU’s Spitzer Department of Social Work, with the generous support of Suse Smetana of San Francisco, The Clalit Health Fund, and the Department of Ophthalmology in Soroka University Medical Center headed by Prof. Tova Lifshitz.
Quoting Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, Isralowitz said, “A test of a people is how it behaves toward the old. But the affection and care for the old, the incurable, and the helpless are the true gold mines of a culture. The Negev Project Vision highlights BGU’s concern for the senior population of many different cultures.”
For more than 10 years, thousands of elderly Ethiopian and Russian immigrants, and Bedouin throughout the region have received services through Negev Project Vision, a community-based program that includes education, training and research related to vision impairment and quality of life among older people. Negev Project Vision has received national and international recognition as a model initiative.
The project recently received approval by the Joint American/Israeli Steering Committee Meeting of the New Jersey and Delaware Jewish Federations to link the successful Negev Project Vision (Dept. of Social Work-BGU) and Rutgers University-School of Social Work with Arad and Tamar (Dead Sea Regional Council). The Steering Committee is comprised of representatives from Partnership 2000 Arad/Tamar-New Jersey/Delaware Federations, the Jewish Agency, and local representatives.
The project will begin in January 2009 when Prof. Isralowitz, Rutgers faculty and students from both universities visit Arad/Tamar.
ABOUT AMERICANS FOR BEN-GURION UNIVERSITY
By supporting a world-class academic institution that not only nurtures the Negev, but also shares its expertise locally and globally, Americans for Ben-Gurion University engages a community of Americans who are committed to improving the world. David Ben-Gurion envisioned that Israel’s future would be forged in the Negev. The cutting-edge research carried out at Ben-Gurion University drives that vision by sustaining a desert Silicon Valley, with the “Stanford of the Negev” at its center. The Americans for Ben-Gurion University movement supports a 21st century unifying vision for Israel by rallying around BGU’s remarkable work and role as an apolitical beacon of light in the Negev desert.
About Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev embraces the endless potential we have as individuals and as a commonality to adapt and to thrive in changing environments. Inspired by our location in the desert, we aim to discover, to create, and to develop solutions to dynamic challenges, to pose questions that have yet to be asked, and to push beyond the boundaries of the commonly accepted and possible.
We are proud to be a central force for inclusion, diversity and innovation in Israel, and we strive to extend the Negev’s potential and our entrepreneurial spirit throughout the world. For example, the multi-disciplinary School for Sustainability and Climate Change at BGU leverages over 50 years of expertise on living and thriving in the desert into scalable solutions for people everywhere.
BGU at a glance:
20,000 students | 800 senior faculty | 3 campuses | 6 faculties: humanities & social sciences, health sciences, engineering sciences, natural sciences, business & management, and desert research.
For all press inquiries, please contact:
James Fattal, J Cubed Communications
516.289.1496
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