About the project
The Jerusalem Foundation established the Fred & Gerta Pomerantz Youth & Community Center in 1970 to serve the Sanhedria, Ma’alot Dafna and Ramat Eshkol neighborhoods. The facility included classrooms, meeting rooms, a public library branch, an outdoor sport court and sport field. The Foundation later supported further development of the center, including creation of the Ted Lurie Library in 1976, the Achtentuch Senior Citizens Center, which provided programs and home services for the neighborhood’s elderly population in 1979, and renovation of the day care center in 1984. The Jerusalem Foundation supported many activities at the center over the years, particularly programs for children, including the Na’aran Youth Program, which provided assistance with school work and recreational activities to 200 children each year. In the late 1980s, ultra-Orthodox residents of Ma’alot lot Dafna requested that the community center be converted for use as a boys’ school. As a result, the Jerusalem Foundation relocated the community center to the Ramot neighborhood in 1990. The Shmu’el Hanavi Community Center, which retained the Achtentuch Senior Citizens Center, was established in the nearby Shmu’el Hanavi section of Ma’alot lot Dafna to meet the lingering need for a community center.
