Strengthening Resilience for Border Communities

Therapeutic Pool at Shlomit

A new community center in the will feature a therapeutic swimming pool for the mental and physical health of people on the confrontation line.

Shlomit is a community located in the Halutza Sands of the Negev, under the jurisdiction of the . Only some 400 meters from the Egyptian border, Shlomit is part of the Gaza envelope communities. In addition to its prospective ~500 families, the community is being developed to serve as the region's cultural, educational, and commercial center.

In recent years, the communities of the Eshkol Regional Council have faced a volatile security situation, which is daily palpable and not only in times of emergency. The serenity and tranquility, which once characterized life in the desert region, have been disrupted by periodic rounds of armed conflict and ongoing threats of terrorism from across the Gaza Strip border, whether from tunnels, mortar attacks, or incendiary kites and balloons and more. These have taken their toll on Shlomit's residents.

For children, living with constant stress and anxiety has a detrimental impact on their healthy, normal development. Traumatic stress is manifested in difficulty in daily functioning: not going to school, remaining in or near protected spaces/bomb shelters, outbursts of crying, bed-wetting, and other expressions of constant fear.

#17766 The resilience centers of the Eshkol Regional Council, together with local emergency teams, work around the clock, responding to the growing number of requests for help. In this context, the regional council is planning to build a therapeutic pool at a new community center, which will serve the entire region, as part of the comprehensive services to promote community resilience. Hydrotherapy is an important treatment modality, not only for physical rehabilitation, but also for emotional healing and preventing long-term disabilities, such as depression, fibromyalgia, and post post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The new complex, featuring a therapeutic pool, will include health and welfare services and cultural facilities, including those for music and art, a modern, well-equipped gym, and an auditorium. The complex will leverage the quality and scope of health and social services for the region, serving to greatly increase its people's quality of life. The community center and its surrounding development comprises about 0.3 hectares (0.75 acres), of which the therapeutic pool is 500 square meters in area. Project Components The project involves earthworks, foundation, sealing and construction; changing rooms and toilets, instructors and therapists' rooms , a reception desk, cafeteria, and doctor's room; carpentry, including doors, cabinets, lockers, benches, tables, and kitchenette; metalwork, including fixtures for people with disabilities, fire cabinets, a baby bathing facility, a folding bed, shutters, ladders, doors, lintels, handrails and railings, drainage, latticework and a mobile crane for people with disabilities; aluminum work, including wall cladding, windows, doors, shutters; pool equipment, including pumps, filters, thermostats and electrical panels; flooring for pool and rooms, including a mosaic floor on the bottom of the pool; stone wall cladding; and installation of air conditioning systems and acoustic ceiling.

Project cost: NIS 6,065,192 Donors will receive appropriate recognition for supporting this vital project.

Contact us http://www.kkl-jnf.org קרן קימת לישראל Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael Jewish National Fund Global Resource Development Division Marketing Department Jerusalem 2020

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