Community Advocacy

National Network
Israel
Address

POB 30081
Jerusalem 91300
Israel

Telephone
+972-2-6402541
Fax
+972-2-6783491
E-Mail
development@advocacy.org.il
Mobile Phone
+972-505-668716
Organisation Type
Non-Governmental Organization
Year of Establishment
1993
Fields of Activity
  1. Democracy and community development
General Information
Community Advocacy is a registered NGO (members' association). The national board is elected at the annual members' meeting. There are 30 staff members and over 1,800 volunteeers. Funding is from the donations from sources such as the European Commission, EED, McGill University, Blaustein Foundation, Goldman Foundation, New Israel Fund,Jerusalem Foundation, Israeli ministries, etc. Modalilties are concrete projects, such as storefront rights advocacy centers in disadvantaged neighborhoods, community food cooperatives, activity and advocacy groups, etc. The organization is part of the McGill Middle East Program, consisting of community rights based practice organizations in Jordan, Palestine and Israel.
Mission and Objectives

Community Advocacy, established in 1993, is a voluntary community organization working for 16 years to strengthen the awareness of residents concerning their social rights in order to access and promote these rights as an expression of their empowerment as individuals and as a community.
Our primary goals are to teach residents to advocate on their own behalf or on behalf of their neighbors in order to access their legal entitlements, to find solutions to common problems and participate in decision making bodies which affect their lives; to provide information and expertise with regards to rights and entitlements and to conduct outreach in order to recruit volunteers, identify issues and understand the community from the perspectives of its residents.
Community Advocacy is unique in its approach to working with people in the community. The basis of our work is developing relationships among members of the community and professionals in order to empower individuals and the community as a whole, enabling them to make decisions and to develop their abilities to help themselves. While we disseminate information and provide expertise in the fields of welfare and law, we consciously enable the community, the people whose lives stand to be affected by programmatic decisions, to make their own determinations. The majority of our board members are residents elected from our local steering committees in Jerusalem, Beersheva and Lod. 75% of the members of our local steering committees, which are responsible for the policy decisions that guide the organization, are neighborhood residents.

Main Projects / Activities

Community Advocacy has branches in Jerusalem, Beersheva, Lod and in the unrecognized Bedouin villages in the Negev. Each branch has at least one storefront rights advocacy center, with a moble branch in the Negev. There are food cooperatives in disadvanted neighborhoods in Jerusalem (three coops), Beersheva and Kiryat Gat and one will be opened in Lod in 2009. The NGO has citizens groups active in such areas as urban renewal, nutritional security, the welfare to work program, universal dental care, public housing, etc. There is currently a Partnership for Peace project involving partners in Amman, East Jerusalem and Lod.

Contact (1) Full Name
Curt Arnson
Head of the organisation
Barbara Epstein, Executive Director