A Mother's Dream

My name is Mina Josselsohn, and I live in Jerusalem with my family. I am a mother of seven children, and by profession, I work with at-risk youth — helping them find their footing when they struggle in school and in life. It is work I care about deeply. But long before it became my profession, it became my personal journey.

My family has grown in beautiful and varied directions. My older children have become independent young adults — one is serving in the army, another is studying at yeshiva, and another is pursuing a degree in architecture. My younger children are just starting out, beginning school and kindergarten, full of energy and curiosity. And in the middle of it all are my daughters Talia and Tamar, whose journey has shaped our family, and my life's mission, more than anything else.

Talia and Tamar were born in 2005, premature, and struggling from the start with serious health issues. Within their first year, we began to notice their development wasn't following the same path as other children. We soon learned they had autism and significant mental disabilities. They would need care not occasional care, not part-time care, but care around the clock, for the rest of their lives.

Running on Empty

What most people don't see from the outside is this: families like mine aren't only raising a special needs child. We're also raising the rest of our children through kindergarten, through school, through the army, through yeshiva, through university all while holding together a household, managing work and finances, and giving Talia and Tamar the round-the-clock attention they need.

There is no room left to rest, to think, to breathe. And without that breath, it becomes nearly impossible to sustain the strength this journey demands, year after year.

Relying on outside support becomes critical but most available services, sponsored through the health system, are stretched thin and overburdened, able to offer only limited help. Beyond that, the true cost of caring for a special needs child far exceeds what state support provides. And in Israel, that gap has only widened the cost of living has soared since COVID, and further still amid the recent wars and missile barrages, leaving families like mine stretched further than ever before.

Not Enough Support

Israel does not currently have enough organizations offering a truly consistent, comprehensive solution for families like mine. Some help in small, valuable ways a few hours here, a program there but almost none provide the sustained, high-level, around-the-clock care that children like Talia and Tamar need as they grow into adulthood. At the same time, countless compassionate volunteers want to give their time and love to these children but have nowhere to bring that generosity. The willingness exists. The infrastructure does not.

This is the gap I have lived inside for seventeen years and it is the gap facing thousands of families across Israel.

The Solution: A Home Built on Partnership

Recently, we've been blessed to partner with an extraordinary organization that has spent the last 20 years successfully running a dedicated home for boys. Building on that proven foundation, we are now joining forces to open a dedicated home for girls a home for Talia and Tamar, and for other special needs children and young adults whose families carry the same weight and burden I have carried.

Every gem who calls this home their own will receive not just personal care, but the highest level of personal care. In its first stage, the home will operate out of a rented space, allowing us to begin this vital work without delay. As we grow with your partnership our goal is to move toward a permanent residence built specifically for the long-term needs of our children, embracing 12 families under one roof.

And once this home runs smoothly, we won't stop there. We will have the capacity to repeat this model and multiply our impact bringing this same standard of care to families across Israel.

The home will offer:

24/7 One-on-One Care

For our most complex and extreme cases, care cannot pause — not for a moment, not overnight, not ever. That's why select residents will receive dedicated, one-on-one support around the clock, with a trained caregiver present at every hour of the day and night. This isn't shift work in the traditional sense it's a continuous, personal relationship between caregiver and child, built on trust, familiarity, and consistency. From the quiet hours before dawn to the unpredictable moments that can arise without warning, these precious souls will never be alone, never unsupported, and never left to navigate a difficult moment without someone who knows them by their side.

Hydrotherapy Suite

For special needs kids and adults alike, water has a unique way of easing what solid ground cannot. Our warm-water Jacuzzi and Hydrotherapy Suite offers a gentle, buoyant space where muscle tension melts away, mobility is supported, and the whole body can simply relax. The warmth and weightlessness of water often bring a rare sense of calm to bodies that carry so much tension throughout the day.

Beyond relaxation, structured hydrotherapy sessions guided by trained therapists support physical development, coordination, and strength for those with complex needs, all while feeling less like therapy and more like comfort. For many of our gems, time in the water becomes a favorite part of the day: playful, soothing, and deeply healing all at once.

👉 Your gift helps bring the healing power of water into daily life for special needs kids and adults.

Private Bedroom Suites

Every young adult deserves a room that reflects who they are not a shared space, not a clinical setting, but a private sanctuary truly their own. Each resident will have their own private bedroom, complete with a comfortable double bed and personal amenities, designed with the same care, warmth, and attention to detail as any beautifully furnished home. These are not institutional rooms. They are private suites a space to rest, to feel safe, and to simply be.

Too often, society treats special needs young adults as a burden to be managed rather than as individuals deserving of comfort, privacy, and respect. We believe the opposite. Every resident who calls this home their own will be treated like the king or queen they are given a room worthy of their dignity, filled with beauty, comfort, and the quiet luxury of having a space that is entirely theirs. Because true care isn't just about meeting basic needs. It's about honoring the person inside.

👉 Your gift helps give a young adult the privacy, comfort, and dignity of a room truly their own.

Garden Therapy

There is something deeply healing about placing your hands in soil and watching something grow. In a dedicated therapeutic garden on-site, our special souls will plant seeds, tend to flowers, and watch life unfold at its own gentle pace a rhythm many autistic and special needs individuals find profoundly calming. Guided by trained horticultural therapists, garden therapy offers sensory engagement, physical activity, and the quiet, powerful lesson that patience and care create beauty.

But healing doesn't stop at the garden gate. In the warmth of spring and summer, we'll extend this connection to nature even further creating dedicated outdoor spaces away from the walls of the home entirely, where residents can feel open sky above them, grass beneath their feet, and the freedom that only the outdoors can offer. Shaded seating areas, open lawns, and quiet outdoor corners will give our special souls a place to breathe, play, and simply exist outside away from routine, away from walls, immersed instead in sunlight, fresh air, and the wide, gentle world beyond the building. For many, it becomes more than a garden it becomes a place of pride, purpose, and peace.

Private Bath & Shower Suites

Every child deserves a bathroom that feels like a sanctuary, not a clinic. Each resident will have their own private, beautifully designed bath and shower suite safe-proofed with the highest standards of care, yet crafted to feel warm, luxurious, and personal rather than institutional. Soft lighting, calming colors, gentle textures, and thoughtful design will transform a daily routine into a moment of genuine comfort and dignity.

For many of our special souls, sensory experience shapes how safe and at ease they feel in a space so every detail, from water temperature control to non-slip, child-safe surfaces to soothing ambiance, will be considered with intention. This isn't just about hygiene. It's about giving each child a space that is truly their own — one where they can feel calm, cared for, and beautiful, exactly as they are.

👉 Your gift helps create a private space where every child feels safe, dignified, and at home.

Art & Creative Therapy Spaces

For autistic young adults, a paintbrush or a drum can say what words cannot. Inside the home, our Art & Creative Spaces offer residents like Talia and Tamar a language beyond speech — guided by trained music and art therapists who create at their pace, not ours.

Music holds special power here: a steady rhythm can soothe, a familiar tune can spark instant joy. Facilitators sit beside each child or young adult, following their lead, helping them find their own voice.

Massage & Physiotherapy

For a child whose body carries tension words can't express, healing hands often speak the loudest. Twice a month, a licensed massage and physiotherapy practitioner will visit the home, offering residents dedicated sessions of therapeutic touch and gentle movement.

For many special needs children and young adults, physical touch brings a rare kind of calm — easing muscle tension, supporting circulation, and quieting an overstimulated body. Physiotherapy helps maintain mobility, comfort, and physical wellbeing over time.

Sensory Rooms

For a child or young adult with autism, the world can often feel too loud, too bright, too much. A sensory room changes that. With your support, we can create a space as carefully tuned as the gem it's built for soft, adjustable lighting, gentle textures to touch and explore, calming sounds that ease rather than overwhelm. It becomes a sanctuary within the home: a place where overstimulation fades, where anxiety softens, and where a gem can simply feel safe enough to be themselves, whenever and if feeling distressed.

Every element within the room is chosen with intention from weighted blankets that offer grounding pressure, to bubble tubes and fiber-optic lights that invite calm exploration, to soft flooring that welcomes a gem to sit, lie down, or simply exist without judgment. Designed to meet the sensory needs of both children and young adults alike, it becomes more than a room. It becomes a trusted retreat a place to return to again and again, knowing that no matter how overwhelming the world outside may feel, there is always a space within these walls built entirely for them.

Sensory Rooms

For an autistic child, the world can often feel too loud, too bright, too much. A sensory room changes that. With your support, we can create a space as carefully tuned as the child it's built for — soft, adjustable lighting, gentle textures to touch and explore, calming sounds that ease rather than overwhelm. It becomes a sanctuary within the home: a place where overstimulation fades, where anxiety softens, and where a child can simply feel safe enough to be themselves, when and if feeling distressed.

Chef-Prepared Catering

For special needs children and young adults, food is never just a meal it's medicine, mood, and daily wellbeing all on one plate. In many mainstream care settings, quick, carbohydrate-heavy meals are served for convenience, often leaving residents sluggish, dysregulated, or simply not at their best. We believe these children deserve better.

Inside the home, a professional chef will prepare every meal individually thoughtfully balanced, nutrient-rich, and tailored to each resident's unique dietary needs, sensitivities, and sensory preferences. Because we understand that for special needs kids, a well-rounded plate isn't a luxury it's foundational to how they feel, focus, and thrive each day. Every ingredient is chosen with intention, every meal prepared with care, because true healing starts from the inside out.

Cooking Experiences
& Special Kicthen

For our higher-functioning gems, independence often begins in the simplest places — like a kitchen built just for them. In a specially adapted, accessible space, our special souls will learn to prepare basic meals with their own two hands, guided step by step at their own pace. There's real pride in stirring a pot, slicing a fruit, or plating a dish made with love — and real joy in sitting down to enjoy it. These moments build more than cooking skills; they build confidence, autonomy, and a small, powerful sense of "I can do this."

Day Trips Excursion

What most people don't see from the outside is this: families like mine aren't only raising a special needs child. We're also raising the rest of our children through kindergarten, through school, through the army, through yeshiva, through university all while holding together a household, managing work and finances, and giving Talia and Tamar the round-the-clock attention they need.

There is no room left to rest, to think, to breathe. And without that breath, it becomes nearly impossible to sustain the strength this journey demands, year after year.

Relying on outside support becomes critical but most available services, sponsored through the health system, are stretched thin and overburdened, able to offer only limited help. Beyond that, the true cost of caring for a special needs child far exceeds what state support provides. And in Israel, that gap has only widened the cost of living has soared since COVID, and further still amid the recent wars and missile barrages, leaving families like mine stretched further than ever before.

Family Respite
(Short Period of Rest) Support

In the context of your article, respite care refers to temporary care provided to give the primary caregiver (in this case, the parents) a break a chance to rest, recharge, or handle other responsibilities while their child is safely looked after by someone else.

₪800/day

Helps provide daily personal care essentials hygiene, feeding support, and basic therapeutic supplies for one gem.

₪800/week

Helps provide daily personal care essentials hygiene, feeding support, and basic therapeutic supplies for one gem.

₪800/day

Helps provide daily personal care essentials hygiene, feeding support, and basic therapeutic supplies for one gem.