Annual Update: What We’ve Accomplished and What’s Coming Ahead

We are more than halfway through the year, so we would like to take a moment to highlight what we have accomplished thus far in the ARDC community. We have had quite a busy year thus far filled with many moments of triumph that we would like to share.

In the Higher Education arena, our Program Manager Leah Hecht broke into the High Tech sector with the launch of Coding courses for clients with existing coding skills. The ARDC will be sending 4 of our clients to prestigious Coding bootcamps such as Israel Tech Challenge(ITC) and LeWagon for a high intensity training in preparation for the employment sector. Additionally, we have proudly awarded 14 clients with scholarships to higher education institutions, and currently have 120 clients enrolled in educational programs.

Thanks to the hard work of Gabriel Bell of the Livelihoods team, two of ARDC’s clients have been successfully hired in an Israeli Tech startup. This year saw 47 of ARDC’s clients matriculate the vocational skills program and graduate with certificates from reputable Israeli institutions.

The Community Outreach team, lead by Sumia Omer and Tesfu Bariagaber, were the backbone of ARDC's support to the community throughout the Deportation crisis, and have spent a lot of their efforts on RSD related issues. In July we welcomed Bahabalom Hailemichael Bario, or Babi for short, as the new Community Organizer and bid farewell to Tesfu as he embarks on a new life in Canada. Together the team has visited more than 6 cities this year, directly reaching 958 people through such efforts.

This year the ARDC appeared in a multitude of media stories speaking out against the planned removal of thousands of asylum seekers. Our CEO Ori Lahat was interviewed about the deposit law on a prominent Israeli channel by Yossi Yaakobovitch of the Population and Immigration Authority. Furthermore, the ARDC continues to meet interested parties for tours, dinners, and info sessions in order to shed light on the situation and the ways in which the community continues to get involved.

To see more of what ARDC has accomplished this year visit us on Facebook!