Helping underprivileged boys

From Israel To Boca

Published January 25th, 2008

By Nicol Jenkins
Special to the News

Miriam Braun came a long way to spread her message to Boca Raton.

Her motivating factor was a group of 6 to 15-year-old underprivileged boys who are the key to her heart.

“Their families are poverty stricken, dysfunctional, and the children suffered severe physical and emotional abuse and neglect in their earlier years,” said Braun.

Braun recently visited Boca Raton Synagogue to raise awareness of the Sanhedria Children’s Home in Jerusalem, Israel, which is a rehab center for children at risk who have been removed from parents’ home by court order and who are referred by Social Services. The children come from dysfunctional households, where there is often a history of alcoholism, physical and verbal abuse, and many come from an underprivileged background.

“The purpose of my visit to Boca Raton was to raise awareness and encourage the Boca Raton community to get involved with Sanhedria’s home and children,” said Braun, the Director of Program Development for the Sanhedria Children’s Home. “Sanhedria is an independently operated rehab center under government supervision and partially financed by the ministry of welfare as it is not part of a chain of orphanages. I wanted the Boca community to hear about the very important and significant work of this center that provides for these children and ensures a healthy and bright future for these kids.”

At Sanhedria, youngsters reside in family units with surrogate parents and receive counseling to transition into a normal family environment.

“This is their first experience in a calm and functioning domestic situation where they see a man and woman living harmoniously,” she said. “We also give children a sense of self-esteem as they learn music, carpentry and other activities.”

Volunteers also play a major role at Sanhedria and many are alumni from Weinbaum Yeshiva High School in Boca Raton.

“The school regularly encourages students to enhance the lives of Sanhedria’s children. These outstanding young men and women are older brothers and sisters and role models. They bring many hours of life and sunshine to the children’s lives,” Braun said.

Although Sanhedria has comforted underprivileged children for many years, the center is still in dire need of services. The center has formed the American Friends of Sanhedria charity to raise funds for the cause. So far, the group has been successful in raising enough to send children to a swimming camp and for other activities. However, Braun insists that there is much more funding needed including installing air-conditioning in the rooms.

“The center is over 100 years old and we cannot install central air conditioning. We have to buy a small one for each room, which costs $12,000 or more that we do not have,” she said. “We want the kids to be comfortable.”

Braun continued, “We welcome the volunteers when they come but we also have monetary needs that the philanthropic community might want to get involved in.”

After visiting Boca Raton, Braun said the response was promising.

“It was a very warm response and an immediate interest on how they could get involved,” she said. “Helping these children is a way of investing in the future generation of Israel and providing these children with an opportunity to develop into functioning and productive adults.”

For more information on Sanhedria, contact www.sanhedria.co.il or 866-409-5718.

Former Boca Raton News staff writer Nicol Jenkins is now editor of Our Town News located in Coral Springs. Our Town News is a sister publication with the Boca Raton News, both part of the South Florida Media Group. Contact Nicol at press@southfloridamediagroup.com.