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ILAN - Israel Foundation for
Handicapped Children was founded
in 1952 as the ILANSHIL Polio
Organization which was intended to provide assistance to polio victims. In 1964, after the polio epidemic had been stopped, ILANSHIL Polio merged with SHATLAM, Israel's organization for parents of children with cerebral palsy, forming ILAN. Since then and to this day, ILAN has been helping thousands of handicapped suffering from various diseases that affect the muscles and nerves such as cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis and other neuromuscular diseases.
Today ILAN cares for some 15,000
handicapped children and adults in 46
branches throughout Israel. ILAN
manages about 30 institutions among
which are kindergartens and schools, day
care centers, rehabilitation and employment
centers, sports centers, hostels and housing
facilities. ILAN organizes rehabilitation and
welfare activities as well as cultural events
designated for all ages. In addition, ILAN
provides the disabled and their families with
individual aid for the purchase of educational
and rehabilitative equipment and essential
accessories. ILAN particularly focuses on
providing solutions for special needs that are
not fully provided by the official authorities. In
this respect, ILAN has recently completed the
building of the "Kessler Home", a modern and
sophisticated hostel for the handicapped in
Kiryat Hayyim near Haifa, that is designated
for some 80 adults with major physical
disabilities. The cost of building the hostel
including all its equipment and furnishing
added up to over seven million dollars, the
great majority of which came from donations
in Israel and abroad. In the near future ILAN
will address the implementation of two major
projects: the building of a similar hostel in the
central region of Israel and a comprehensive
project including a home for children and a
large employment center on Mt. Scopus in
Jerusalem. In the years to come, ILAN intends
to broaden its activities in order to reach those handicapped people who haven't been traced or helped yet by the organization and to set the services it offers on course for the 21st century.
ILAN regards the integration of the handicapped in the healthy society as a major goal and will emphasize this objective in the years to come. Integrating handicapped people in the healthy community requires a different approach from society both in the awareness of the handicapped needs and also in providing the proper financial resources for that purpose. The majority of ILAN's budget comes from donations by individuals and institutions that identify with the organization's objectives. ILAN is a registered voluntary organization that acts under the enforcement of non-profit organizations rules.
On ILAN's 50th anniversary, we extend our thanks and appreciation to all of ILAN's many volunteers who devote their efforts, day and night, to the children served and cared for by ILAN.
Alon Braude
Chairman of the Board of ILAN
