About the project
In 1948 about 3,000 housing units were initially built in Kiryat HaYovel for veteran members and new immigrants and 33 lots for self-development were handed out in Shmaryahu Levine Street. To meet the demand created by the wave of immigrants arriving with the birth of the new nation, construction of public housing was characterized by speed, low standards and high density. From the 1960’s and onwards, construction began large scale housing projects and although some of the existing tenements have undergone some renovation, the neighborhood is characterized by pockets of impoverishment alongside residents of medium-high socio-economic status. In 2007, the planning institutes, led by the Jerusalem Municipality, began drawing up a master plan for the south-western part with Kiryat HaYovel as an area with potential to add housing units for young families. The Jerusalem Foundation, the Joint Distribution Committee, the Jerusalem Municipality and the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation Inc. joined together with the local community council, Yuvalim, to bring a comprehensive and long-lasting change to the Kiryat HaYovel neighborhood. Due to the scope of this particular project and the various partners involved, a steering committee was established to conduct extensive mapping and determine the needs of this vast neighborhood. The goals was to create a massive, multi-disciplinary investment that will succeed in bringing about significant, visible change by bringing more young people to the area.
The focus was on education path, employment path, a building community path and a young communities path.
When it comes to education, we completed an early childhood therapeutic center which also includes a day care center and after school activities for young children, renovations took place in various schools and a significant investment was made in the community’s four schools to improve overall achievement and add instructional hours so that parents could work longer.
Kiryat HaYovel is now a happening place with young people moving in and taking part in efforts to improve the community. A Teen Center was building and the community now hosts a pre-army “Mechina” (preparatory year) where participants volunteer with young children and families in the community. Young people have volunteered to clean up the streets and renovate public spaces and about 30 residents were entitled to apartment renovations, on the condition that they give back to the (community) part of the Kehila Bona – Building Community project.
The investment was quite successful. In 2012, Kiryat HaYovel was the only community in Jerusalem that had a positive migration.