EMERGENCY APPEAL! ADVANCING UKRIANIAN IMMIGRANTS WITH EMPLOYMENT AND UTILIZATION OF RIGHTS
by Katef Le Katef ("Shoulder to Shoulder")
The funding will enable the launch of this new program to help Ukrainian new immigrant families attain income, assisting to find a job, understanding how to gain their full legal rights & benefits, as well as guiding to educational opportunities. Thus helping the families better cope with the new living situation enforced on them due to the war. In recent years, Katef Le Katef has been honored with the prestigious Genesis Prize, The Jerusalem Award and The Ministry of Welfare’s Shield award for their outstanding impact and innovative approaches. With your support Katef L’Katef will impact 1,200 Ukrainian immigrants, you can sponsor an individual for $85 to achieve a more sustainable life with livelihood.
The Goal
To guide new Ukrainian immigrant families attain employment most fitting to their skills set and available in the marketplace to create a source of income. The program is focused on families dealing with challenges post immigration, dealing with absorption, language barriers, seeking employment, adjusting skills set to local best practices, in addition to difficulties with children and multiple domestic challenges that prevent and delay developing a career. The planned chapter locations to serve participants are in areas of absorption of immigrants, in Jerusalem, Karmiel and Beer Sheva, each location has a designated chapter director with experience in the field and a team of lecturers in the various fields to provide the necessary knowledge and data.
Work Model
Based on years of experience in this field we are seeking to operate in three pillars
- Employment Guidance– assisting in securing full time and/or part time employment, performing individual and group sessions to match specific skills set.
- Financial Management & Rights – attaining the knowledge to manage a domestic household financial structure for a new family in Israel, and knowing what rights and benefits are available and how to receive them.
- Education – providing solutions to connect the families with local agencies to support needs of the children, including parenting workshops.
The full-time directors in each location, develop a personal workplan for each family, with a specific timeline with embedded objectives.
The participants will learn how to cope with new life challenges and be in constant ongoing communication with the program lecturer, that will mirror to each family their successes and difficulties and assist them in overcoming obstacles.
The plan is to open 3 chapters immediately and operate for 6 months, with a designated team workforce development experts, assisting 100 individuals weekly, 1-hour weekly individual guidance, in addition to 8 group sessions weekly on various topics. Consisting of lectures, training, educational opportunities and seminars.
Budget for 3 Chapters:
| Projected Expenses | $ | Details |
| 3 Chapter Full Time Directors & 1 Nationwide coordinator | 67,500 | For 6 months at each location, salary and benefits. Managing each location recruitment, work plans, and attending to the family needs with the various lectures |
| Professional Mentoring Advisors | 16,500 | In 3 chapters, 1 hour weekly directly with each family to execute personal plan |
| General Operations & Admin | 8,400 | Monitoring, Evaluation, Accounting, and general tools from Katef |
| Contingency | 5,600 | |
| Total Projected Expenses | $98,000 | |
| Income Requested | $98,000 |
- Total cost per chapter $33K.
Katef Le Katef (“Shoulder to Shoulder”) is applying its extensive experience as one of Israel’s leaders in anti-poverty programming to address the harsh new reality for immigrants.
Project Impact
Since its founding, Katef Le Katef has replicated its holistic, multi-dimensional, and goal-oriented approach across Israel with life-changing results. It has supported 10,000 families with basic necessities. Longitudinal studies demonstrate gains such as:
- 70% of families achieved full financial independence and stability
- 67% of unemployed participants maintaining employment years after graduation
- 66% of unsettled debts reached settlements
- 40% average income increase per family
Tags
Guidance | ISRAEL | ISRAEL REBUILD & RECOVERY | Immigrant Communities | Project Targeted | Seed Funding | Vocational- Trade | Workforce Development | Workforce Development
Leadership
Yehuda Am Shalem
Founder & CEO
A social and strategic entrepreneur with over three decades of experience leading social transformations, developing national models, and establishing social and technological infrastructures. He has founded and managed complex non-profit operations, spearheaded cross-sector partnerships with government ministries and international foundations, and serves as a member of public committees and national forums shaping social policy
Bat El Damari
Programming and Activities Director
Bat El has been spearheading innovation at Katef Le Katef for nearly a decade. Her passion for her work led her to various positions within the NGO, culminating in her well-rounded abilities as a senior programming director. Bat El holds a B.A. in Education and Psychology and Album treatment method certification.
Lital Mor-Yosef
Independence Project Coordinator
Lital has been impacting Katef Le Katef’s work for over seven years, specifically with single-mother households struggling with poverty. She holds a B.A. in Psychology and is a registered Sayata Method counselor.
Danny Kokush
Moked Project Coordinator
Riki utilizes her academic training and professional experience as an educator to help families break free from the cycle of poverty at the Tel Aviv-based Shafirim Center where she has been serving as Moked Project Coordinator for the past three years.
About Organization
Katef Le Katef ("Shoulder to Shoulder")
Founded in 2005 by Yehuda Am Shalem, Katef L’Katef works to break the cycle of poverty and promote long-term economic independence across Israel. Through holistic, tailored interventions addressing the root causes of financial hardship, the organization has helped tens of thousands of Israelis achieve greater financial stability and self-sufficiency.
Recognized with the Genesis Prize, Jerusalem Award and Ministry of Welfare’s Shield Award, Katef L’Katef has also helped shape government welfare programs, bringing its proven model to a national scale.
Building on this expertise, Katef L’Katef advances economic resilience in Israel’s peripheral and frontline communities through partnerships with municipalities, government ministries and local businesses. Under the leadership of Ran Kiviti, former head of Israel’s Small and Medium Business Agency and founder of the Maof network, the organization has expanded its work from emergency business assistance to long-term economic development, strengthening local enterprises, commercial networks and sustainable regional growth.
Impact Statements
Katef L’Katef has guided hundreds of small businesses in frontline communities from emergency survival to self-reliance and community-anchored growth.
Over 80% of participating business owners report high satisfaction and direct, measurable improvements in their commercial performance.
The program operates through institutionalized partnerships with local municipalities, ensuring long-term systemic stability and enduring community impact.
Annual Organizational Budgets (total, with In-kind)
2025 (actual, fiscal) $1,729,000
2026 (projected) $2,066,667
Contact us
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Email:
yehuda@katef.org.il -
Phone:
+972-54-6383664 -
Website:
http://katef.org.il/ -
Organization Number:
580450104 ISRAEL
Details
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Employees 15
-
Volunteers 100
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Year Founded 2005
-
Board Members 3
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Annual Board Meetings 8
- Audit Committee
- External Auditor
Budgets
Recommendations
GGC Vetting Committee had no reservations
GGC on site visit performed
Israel
Certificate of Good Standing (Nihul Takin)
Certificate of Financial Accounting (Ishur Nihul Pinkasei Chesbonot)
Certificate of tax-deductibility at source (Ishur Nikui Mas;Makor)
46A Certificate – approved for tax refunds in Israel
Classification as non-profit organization (Sivug Malcar)
Non-standard articles of incorporation (Takanon Meuchad ; Bylaws equivalent)
Organization has a projected budget and work plan
Reference & Quality assurance
Large Institutional / Mega Donors
GGC Performed online research
Leadership background positive
Organization: considered one of best in class
Considered Efficient
Considered Impactful
Provided clear accountability
Outcomes: cost effective and high feasibility
* GGC is also discussing the organizations need for increase and diversity of Board Members. General Assembly is 7 members.
Donation Info
Donate Via Cryptocurrency -Link
Tax Deductible in USA, CANADA, ISRAEL, AUSTRALIA
Contact GGC for more details on this project
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