A long time Israeli partner of Ameinu, YEDID ("friend" in Hebrew) was established in 1997 to promote social justice through a national network of Citizens Rights Centers in poor communities throughout Israel. YEDID is the only national organization that empowers Israelis to break the cycle of poverty through free individual legal and social assistance, community education initiatives and grassroots organizing for social change

“MIDOT is an independent global leader in assessing non-profit organizations’ effectiveness and potential for social impact. MIDOT’s recognition bears testimony to YEDID’s professional integrity, and is a rewarding reflection of the high standards we maintain.”

YEDID volunteers in Kiryat Malachi initiated activities on Good Deeds Day

Parents are paying for travel agents and scholarship students are putting thousands of shekels towards their flights to Poland. Proposal to the Education Minister: Work in specialized jobs in exchange for a supplementary scholarship towards the trip to Poland.

Meir Cohen: "I was the Minister of Social Services in Dimona. If they cut the defense budget, there will be change here."

NGO YEDID’s request to advance four bills and to increase the state budget in this area was approved. One of the central ideas behind the move is to turn the area of food security into a source for creating employment.

The students of MEGEMERIA, a school for jewelry design that caters to Ethiopian Immigrants, will be presenting the pendant to President Barack Obama´s entourage on the latter’s planned visit to Israel with the request of getting it to the president.

Danielle Smith, Kiara Patterson, and Melissa James, the wives of senior Maccabi Tel Aviv basketball team players Devin Smith, David Logan, and Sean James, are pictured here (right to left). The women were YEDID´s guests at the organization´s social business venture, MEGEMERIA, which is a one-of-a-kind school that teaches jewelry making and design to Ethiopian immigrants to Israel, and offers the latter jobs upon graduating.

Accessing rights and Budget Planning under one roof.

YEDID offers an approach from which everyone profits: Accessing rights and family budget planning will safeguard your employees.

The Poverty Report of the National Insurance Institute proves that government activities in the area of employment - creation of jobs and removal of barriers to the unemployed - did not succeed in bringing about the change that is necessary. Why not? The answer is simple. Creating jobs is not a complete solution to economic and social disparities. The solution must include workers’ being paid wages high enough to meet the cost of living; and National Insurance benefits must be updated such that those who subsist on them may do so in dignity.

In the 18th Knesset, YEDID advanced more than 40 bills in diverse areas, including housing, social security, the system of repossessions, consumer and banking matters, proper and transparent governance, and more. And this is our intention this time as well: to take on the members of the Knesset and convince them to present and pass proper social policy.

YEDID volunteer Danielle Greene, who is currently living in Israel with her husband, Maccabi Tel Aviv basketball star Devon Smith, writes about her tour of our Citizen Rights Centers in the south.

In the deliberation that took place at the Economic Committee, the Supervisor of Banks said that the governmental committee that he leads for examining the lack of competition between banks recommends adding additional players to the market. In the deliberation it was also revealed that the committee did not document this statement in its protocols.

Center visit: Petach Tikvah

In 2012, YEDID’s Citizen Rights Center in Ashdod recorded the highest number of cases concerning families that are unable to make their mortgage payments, out of all the organization’s centers across the country.

This is likely a temporary measure that the bank will withdraw once things calm down. NGO YEDID says that “such measures are taken for the sake of the bank’s image. We advise people to be careful not to be late on their mortgage payments in the hope that the bank will waive the debt.”

A Knesset report prepared at the request of MK Ruhama Avraham and initiated by YEDID: Household income rose by 11% in the last decade, but GDP rose by 16%. Also, in response to Yair Lapid and Riki Cohen: 20 thousand shekel income belongs to the upper class, not the middle class. This is an abridged version of an article that recently appeared in The Marker.

Finance Minister Lapid presented the planned budget cuts to the Prime Minister. Plans include: raising VAT; raising income taxes for earners of over NIS 14,000 per month; and drastic cuts to child allowances. The primary victims: public sector workers and large families. In response to the publication of the expected cuts to child allowance, NGO YEDID sent an urgent letter to the Minister of Social Affairs, MK Meir Cohen. “We are opposed to cuts in the child allowance and to any other elements of this program,” they wrote. “If there will indeed be cuts, we suggest that it be by way of a loan where the money is returned to children in 10, 12 or 18 years, with interest and linking, as is the case with bonds.”

The amount needed for the renovations is 15 million shekels. YEDID has demanded that the new Ministers of Finance and Housing provide the complete amount.

At a conference organized by YEDID, the CEO of Amidar revealed that the governmental housing company owns 450 apartments across the country that are standing empty, pending renovations that will cost 15 million shekels. Meanwhile, approximately 2,400 families are waiting for public housing units. “The key is in the hands of the Treasury.”

NGO YEDID, which assists people who default on their mortgage payments, reports a 20% surge in requests for assistance in 2012.

A special design for the president´s visit: Ethiopian immigrants studying jewelry design create a golden pendant engraved with the Amharic word for "peace," and hope to give it to American president Barack Obama on his upcoming visit to Israel.

The Executive Director of YEDID is one of 10 shortlisted for the Rapoport Lifetime Achievement Award. Hundreds of recommendations poured in for wonderful women who have made a difference. From these, 15 extraordinarily impressive candidates were selected as finalists by our esteemed judges. 10 of these women are now candidates for the Lifetime Achievement Award, and five are candidates for a prize awarded to a yopung entrepreneur who is poised to set a worthy initiative into motion.