About the project
The Jerusalem Variety Center for Child & Family Development is a multi-million dollar facility that brings together numerous agencies and organizations involved in treating disabled children. The center provides an integrated system of preventative, curative and rehabilitative services, including family counseling, screening and professional training in 14 areas of disability, including sight and hear impairments, cerebral palsy, Downs Syndrome, autism, and psychological, nutritional and neurological disabilities. The Jerusalem Foundation supported construction of the center’s first wing, the east tower, which was completed in 1994 and occupied by the International Center for the Enhancement of Learning Potential, an organization that works with children with emotional disorders. In 1997, it supported establishment of the Center for the Blind & Visually Impaired, which works to improve methods of screening, diagnosis and rehabilitation and runs a kindergarten and enrichment activities for 100 children weekly. In 1998, it established the Kerzner Learning Disabilities Diagnostic Center, which develops national diagnostic criteria and offers therapeutic and enrichment programs, particularly to target populations that have not received systematic diagnoses before, including children from the city’s Arab and ultra-Orthodox Jewish sectors. The Foundation also has provided support for activities at the Variety Center, including subsidies and summer camp programs.
