Orr Shalom in Los Angeles 1.85

Orr Shalom was officially founded in 1980. Gottfried Muller, a philanthropist, approached a young Israeli couple, Hal and Shelly Cohen, who were interested in pioneering new models of out-of-home care for children at-risk. The Cohens believed that intimate, family homes would meet children’s needs more than institutional frameworks. With Muller’s help, they took in ten children-at-risk. The Ministry of Welfare was so impressed by their work that they gave them permission to establish Israel’s first Family Group Home. Orr Shalom was born.

By 1990, the organization had four ‘Family Group Homes’ and the Reut Home for Boys, caring for 46 children. Over the following 14 years Orr Shalom grew, opening Family Group Homes and Adolescent Girls Homes across Israel, as well as the Beit Goldschmidt Home for Girls.

Over the years, Orr Shalom has continued to create pioneering programs for Israel’s neediest children. In 1994, it established the Therapeutic Foster program to care for children-at-risk with psychiatric profiles. Following the success of this program, it was awarded the government tender to manage foster programs in the center of Israel (from Gedera to Hadera). Today, Orr Shalom cares for 1,400 children, making it the largest organization in Israel caring for children and youth-at-risk who have been removed from their homes because of abuse, neglect or familial tragedy.