What Exactly Is The Work That WIZO Does?
I often speak about the incredible and impactful work that WIZO does. People hear us fundraising, speaking about Israel, supporting projects, advocating for women and children, but sometimes someone will stop and ask me a very important question:
“What exactly is the work?”
WIZO’s work is not symbolic. It is practical, hands-on work that impacts thousands of lives every day.
WIZO is one of the largest social welfare organisations in Israel. Across the country, WIZO operates daycare centres, schools, youth villages, women’s shelters, counselling programmes, and support systems for vulnerable people.
Today, WIZO operates 161 daycare centres across Israel, caring for approximately 10,000 infants and toddlers every year.
That number alone is extraordinary.
These daycare centres are not simply babysitting facilities. Many are located in vulnerable communities, hospitals, universities, and development areas, allowing mothers, especially single mothers and low-income families, to work knowing their children are safe, nourished, educated, and emotionally supported.
The very first WIZO daycare centre opened in Tel Aviv in 1927, long before the modern State of Israel even existed. Nearly a century later, that work continues every single day in communities across the country.
WIZO also operates five youth villages, eight schools, and four welfare boarding schools, supporting around 6,000 children and teenagers annually.
Some of these include:
- WIZO Nahalal Youth Village
- Hadassim Youth Village
- Ahuzat Yeladim in Haifa
- Beit Hakerem in Jerusalem
- WIZO Technological High School in Rehovot
Many of the young people in these programmes come from incredibly difficult circumstances: poverty, neglect, abuse, trauma, family instability, or immigration challenges. Some arrive without proper support systems. Others are lone immigrant teenagers trying to build lives in a new country.
At places like Nahalal Youth Village, students are given not only housing and education, but real opportunity, through studies in technology, agriculture, sciences, leadership, engineering, and vocational training.
That is what makes WIZO’s work so powerful. It is not charity that creates dependency. It is support that restores dignity and possibility.
Then there is the work WIZO does for women and children escaping abuse.
WIZO currently operates two dedicated shelters for women and children fleeing domestic violence in Israel, alongside nine transitional “Safety Net” supportive communities that help women rebuild their lives after leaving the shelters.
For security reasons, the shelter locations are kept confidential, because these are often women arriving in situations of severe danger.
I think many people underestimate how urgent this work is.
Women arrive traumatised, frightened, often with children who have witnessed violence inside their homes. Some arrive with absolutely nothing. WIZO provides emergency shelter, trauma counselling, therapy, legal assistance, parenting support, rehabilitation programmes, and long-term guidance to help women rebuild independent lives safely and with dignity.
And importantly, the support does not end when they leave the shelter.
The “Safety Net” communities help women transition back into society with emotional support, practical assistance, and stable environments where they can begin again.
In a world where domestic violence continues to devastate families globally, this work is lifesaving.
But perhaps what moves me most about WIZO is that so much of this work happens quietly.
It is social workers answering emergency calls. It is caregivers comforting frightened children. It is educators refusing to give up on vulnerable teenagers. It is women slowly rebuilding confidence after years of fear. It is ordinary people carrying out extraordinary acts of care every single day.
And maybe that is the best answer to the question:
What exactly is the work that WIZO does?
The work is protecting dignity. The work is restoring hope.
The work is making sure that no child, no woman, no vulnerable person feels abandoned or unseen.
With love,
Shelley Trope-Friedman
President, WIZO South Africa