Chimes Israel

Chimes Israel’s therapeutic nursing day centers serve adults ages 21 and above with intellectual and developmental disabilities who require extensive therapeutic and nursing support. We operate these centers in partnership with local authorities and under the supervision and funding of Israel’s Ministry of Labor, Welfare, and Social Services.

Structured, Enriching Days with Professional Support

Each center offers a structured daily program that combines enriching group activities with ongoing therapeutic and paramedical care. Participants receive physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, music therapy, rehabilitative art, therapeutic gardening, and other individualized supports based on their needs and goals. Our professional nursing staff also provide daily assistance with feeding, hygiene, medication management, mobility, and personal care.

Individualized Programs that Promote Quality of Life

We develop a personalized program for each participant in partnership with families, caregivers, and professional staff, based on the individual’s wishes, strengths, and needs. These programs focus on maintaining and strengthening functional abilities, encouraging independence in daily life, and improving overall quality of life. Through consistent support and individualized adaptations, participants build greater confidence, engagement, and participation in family and community life.

The Role of Volunteers

Volunteers play an important role in enriching daily life at the centers. Because many participants spend most of their waking hours there, volunteers bring fresh energy, companionship, and meaningful social connection. They join activities, spend time one-on-one with participants, accompany outings and excursions, and help create a warm and engaging environment. Their presence breaks routine, fosters relationships, and helps participants feel seen, valued, and connected.

Community Participation and Continuity of Care

Our therapeutic nursing day centers help adults with disabilities remain active members of their communities while receiving the comprehensive care they need. By combining therapeutic services, nursing support, social engagement, and individualized attention, we provide stability, continuity, dignity, and meaningful opportunities for participation throughout adulthood.

From the earliest months of life, Chimes Israel helps children with disabilities build the foundation they need to grow, communicate, learn, and thrive. We invest heavily in early intervention because the earliest years of life offer the greatest opportunity to shape a child’s future. Research in neuroscience and child development shows that the first years of life are a critical and non-repeatable period for brain development. During this time, children develop the cognitive, motor, emotional, and communication skills that form the basis for lifelong learning and independence. For children with developmental delays and disabilities, timely and consistent intervention can profoundly change developmental outcomes. Putting this understanding into practice, Chimes Israel operates rehabilitative early childhood centers for children ages six months to three years with autism, developmental delays, genetic syndromes, and complex medical conditions. Our centers combine education, therapy, nursing care, and family support within one integrated setting, ensuring children receive consistent and uninterrupted care during the most important developmental years.

Setting the National Standard

Chimes Israel pioneered a comprehensive rehabilitative early childhood model in Israel that integrates assessment, therapies, special education, childcare, and family guidance within one coordinated framework. Families no longer need to navigate multiple clinics, appointments, and systems on their own. Multidisciplinary teams work together around each child to create continuity, consistency, and individualized care. This nationally recognized model continues to influence best practices in early childhood disability services across Israel and reflects Chimes Israel’s long-standing commitment to innovation and excellence in rehabilitation.

Our Centers

Chimes Israel operates several rehabilitative early childhood centers across Israel that operate under the supervision and funding of Israel’s Ministries of Welfare and Health, in partnership with local authorities and in full compliance with the Rehabilitation Day Care Centers Law. This structure ensures the highest professional standards while preserving warm, nurturing, child-centered environments.

The Daily Experience

Each center functions as a preschool with therapy integrated throughout the day. Children participate in play, group learning, meals, rest, music, movement, and social interaction while receiving individualized therapeutic support within natural daily routines. Parents and multidisciplinary teams develop a personalized advancement plan for every child based on their strengths, challenges, and goals. Whenever possible, therapists reinforce skills within daily activities, helping children apply learning in meaningful and familiar contexts.

Professional Coordination

Each center works in close partnership with child development clinics, health funds, hospitals, and welfare services to ensure coordinated and comprehensive care. Professionals collaborate regularly, align therapeutic goals, and share information to create continuity across all aspects of the child’s development. Families receive integrated support rather than fragmented services, reducing stress and helping parents better navigate the challenges of raising a child with complex needs.

Families

Families play a central role in every child’s development and progress. Chimes Israel provides parents with ongoing guidance, emotional support, and practical strategies from educational and paramedical professionals, strengthening continuity between the center and home. The centers also offer support groups and workshops for parents, siblings, and grandparents. These frameworks reduce isolation, strengthen resilience, and help families better understand and respond to developmental and emotional challenges.

Families in Growth

Chimes Israel extends its early childhood intervention beyond the classroom through Families in Growth, an innovative home-based program that strengthens parental capacity and reinforces therapeutic progress where children live. Through structured home visits led by trained therapists and health professionals, the program equips parents with practical tools, guidance, and confidence to support their child’s development during every day routines and interactions. The team works directly with families to strengthen communication, emotional regulation, caregiving skills, and household stability while reinforcing therapeutic goals within the child’s natural environment. Families in Growth has demonstrated meaningful improvements in child development, family functioning, and parental confidence, while helping prevent crisis situations that can place families at risk of intervention by social services or out-of-home placement.

Our Commitment

At the heart of Chimes Israel’s early childhood work is a belief in potential. We see every child not as a diagnosis, but as an individual with abilities, personality, dignity, and a future worth protecting. We believe families deserve partnership, respect, guidance, and hope. We believe early intervention is one of the most important investments a society can make. Through professional care, innovation, and compassion, Chimes Israel works to ensure that children with disabilities receive the support they need from the very beginning of life to reach their fullest potential.

Meaningful employment plays a vital role in quality of life for people with disabilities. Work strengthens dignity, independence, self-esteem, and emotional well-being while creating opportunities for social connection, routine, purpose, and community participation. Having meaningful responsibilities and contributing to society helps individuals feel valued, capable, and connected to the world around them.

A Flexible Employment Continuum

Chimes Israel operates employment services along a comprehensive continuum, in accordance with the framework of Israel’s Ministry of Welfare. This continuum includes sheltered employment, supported employment in the open labor market, and participation in academic vocational college programs.

Participants engage in work and training that match their abilities, interests, goals, and stage of development, with the flexibility to move along the continuum over time based on readiness, personal choice, and changing life circumstances.

Through vocational training, rehabilitation therapies, individualized support, and real-world work experience, participants build practical job skills, work habits, confidence, independence, and social abilities that support long-term employment and fuller participation in community life.

Supported Employment

Chimes Israel’s supported employment programs help individuals with disabilities integrate into competitive employment within the open labor market. Participants receive individualized preparation, job placement assistance, on-site coaching, and ongoing professional support before, during, and after placement.

Employment specialists work closely with employers to create successful and sustainable placements that benefit both employees and workplaces. Through this model, participants gain the opportunity to earn a salary, develop independence, strengthen self-confidence, and become active participants in community life.

Mental Health Employment Support

Employment can play a powerful role in recovery and emotional stability for individuals living with mental health disabilities. Chimes Israel provides specialized supported employment services that help individuals return to a life with structure, purpose, routine, and social connection.

Participants receive individualized support tailored to their strengths, challenges, and personal goals. Professional staff provide vocational guidance, workplace mediation, emotional support, and ongoing follow-up to help individuals maintain employment and build long-term stability and independence.

Sheltered Employment

Sheltered employment provides a structured and supportive environment for adults with disabilities who are not yet able to work independently in the open labor market. Work tasks are adapted to each individual’s abilities, pace, and needs, allowing participants to build skills, establish routines, and develop confidence within a stable and encouraging setting.

For some individuals, sheltered employment serves as a long-term framework that provides meaningful daily structure and social engagement. For others, it functions as a preparatory stage that supports transition to supported employment or competitive work opportunities as readiness develops.

Alongside vocational activity, the centers offer enrichment programs such as sports, art, gardening, cooking, music, and therapeutic activities, while also providing daily meals and social support. Together, these services strengthen well-being, connection, dignity, and inclusion.

Volunteer Impact

Volunteers play an important role in enriching daily life within Chimes Israel’s employment centers. Because many participants spend much of their day in these settings, volunteers help introduce variety, companionship, and meaningful social interaction.

Volunteers assist with work activities, participate in enrichment programs, accompany community outings, and spend time building personal connections with participants. Their presence helps create a warm and inclusive environment where individuals feel seen, respected, valued, and connected to the broader community.

Vocational Colleges

Chimes Israel operates academic vocational college programs in partnership with recognized academic institutions and professional training organizations. These programs prepare young adults with disabilities for meaningful employment through structured academic, vocational, and life-skills training.

Participants gain practical knowledge, workplace skills, and professional preparation in a supportive and adapted learning environment that encourages independence, personal growth, and successful integration into the workforce.

Chimes Israel’s afterschool programs provide structured, supportive environments for children and youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities during the afternoon hours following the school day. Operating within the children’s special education schools, the programs extend the day in a positive and meaningful way through supervised social, recreational, and educational activities.

Supporting Working Families

For many families in Israel, the afternoon hours present a significant challenge, particularly in households where both parents work. Chimes Israel’s afterschool programs provide reliable, high-quality care that keeps children safe, engaged, and supported after school hours. This continuity allows parents to maintain employment and family stability with the reassurance that their children are receiving professional care in a trusted environment.

Enrichment and Personal Development

The programs complement formal education by providing social, therapeutic, and enrichment activities tailored to children and youth with a wide range of abilities and needs. Participants include children with autism, intellectual and developmental disabilities, physical disabilities, chronic medical conditions, and behavioral challenges.

Through guided activities, peer interaction, and individualized support, children strengthen communication, social skills, independence, confidence, and emotional development in environments that respect their unique personalities, abilities, and preferences.

Professional Teams in Familiar School Settings

The programs operate under the supervision and funding of Israel’s Ministry of Welfare and in partnership with local authorities. Multidisciplinary educational and therapeutic teams provide consistent, individualized support that aligns with each child’s developmental, emotional, and behavioral needs.

Because the programs take place within the children’s schools, participants benefit from continuity, familiarity, and stable routines that help create a sense of comfort and security.

A Camp-Like Experience Powered by Young Volunteers

Afternoons at Chimes Israel’s afterschool programs focus on enjoyable, camp-style activities that encourage participation, creativity, movement, and social connection. Children and youth take part in games, music, sports, art, group activities, celebrations, and community experiences in a warm and supportive atmosphere.

Young adult volunteers play a central role in creating this environment. Many volunteer through programs such as the Impact! Scholarship Program, Israel’s National Service program, gap-year service programs, and Chimes Israel’s internship partnership with Tel Aviv University, which helps train future social workers and professionals in the field of disability services.

Their energy, warmth, and personal involvement enrich daily life for participants while strengthening meaningful connections between children with disabilities and the broader community.

At Chimes Israel, we believe work plays a central role in adult life. Employment provides structure, purpose, independence, social connection, and a sense of contribution. Supported employment helps adults with disabilities realize their abilities, build confidence, develop a vocational identity, and participate meaningfully in community life. Every person deserves the opportunity to work, contribute, and succeed with the appropriate support and accommodations.

What Supported Employment Means

Supported employment places individuals with disabilities in real jobs within the open labor market while providing individualized professional support before, during, and after placement. The support adapts to both the employee and the workplace, helping individuals succeed while meeting employer expectations and workplace standards. As participants gain skills, confidence, and experience, support gradually adjusts to encourage greater independence, long-term stability, and continued professional growth.

Partnerships with Employers

Chimes Israel works closely with companies, entrepreneurs, public institutions, and business owners to create successful employment opportunities that benefit both employees and employers. Participants gain meaningful work experience, income, independence, and opportunities for advancement, while employers benefit from dedicated, reliable, and motivated workers who contribute to workplace productivity and culture. Chimes Israel staff provide employers with ongoing guidance, mediation, and support as needed to promote effective communication and successful integration.

Individual Supported Employment

Through our individual supported employment program, approximately 130 adults work in private and public workplaces throughout Israel’s Central and Sharon regions. Participants hold positions in manufacturing, logistics, retail, hospitality, cafés, packaging, mailing services, elder care, and other industries that reflect real labor market needs. Each placement is carefully matched to the individual’s abilities, interests, strengths, and goals. Participants receive personalized preparation and ongoing support from rehabilitative placement coordinators, including interview preparation, workplace communication, skill development, time management, and navigating public transportation. Coordinators remain actively involved throughout employment, providing guidance when needed and gradually reducing support as participants gain confidence and independence.

Group Employment and Industrial Rehabilitation

Some participants engage in supported employment through group placements, often referred to as industrial rehabilitation. In this model, small groups work together within open market workplaces while receiving on-site support from a Chimes Israel rehabilitative instructor throughout the workday. Approximately 60 participants currently work in group placements across Israel. This framework combines real work experience with consistent professional guidance, peer support, routine, and social connection, helping participants strengthen vocational skills and workplace confidence in a supportive environment.

Building Vocational Identity

Supported employment may also include pre-vocational training that combines learning with hands-on work experience. This stage allows participants to explore interests, develop work habits, strengthen interpersonal skills, and build a sense of vocational identity before transitioning into long-term employment. The process respects personal choice, recognizes that readiness develops over time, and supports each individual in progressing at their own pace toward meaningful and sustainable employment.

Chimes Israel operates academic vocational college programs in partnership with leading academic institutions and professional training organizations. These programs serve young adults with disabilities who have the motivation and potential to integrate into the workforce and are seeking structured preparation for meaningful employment.

The colleges combine academic coursework, vocational training, life-skills development, and hands-on work experience within one integrated framework. Students gain knowledge, develop practical skills, and prepare for long-term employment in fields that align with their interests, strengths, and abilities.

Individualized Learning and Professional Development

The vocational college model combines classroom learning with direct workplace experience. Students participate in courses and training programs tailored to their learning styles, personal goals, and professional interests. Academic studies include foundation subjects such as sociology, psychology, communication skills, computer and technology literacy, introduction to the world of work, self-advocacy, and independent living skills. Alongside these subjects, students receive focused professional training in selected vocational fields.

The two-year program combines theoretical studies, employment preparation workshops, individualized academic support, and supervised practical work experience. Workshops focus on essential workplace skills such as teamwork, communication, time management, budgeting, responsibility, problem-solving, and workplace behavior. Practical placements allow students to apply what they learn in real employment settings while building confidence, independence, and professional experience.

Leading Academic and Vocational Partnerships

Chimes Israel operates these programs in collaboration with respected academic and vocational partners, including Bar-Ilan University, Beit Berl College, and the Culinary College. Areas of study vary according to labor market needs and participant interests and may include culinary arts, food and kitchen services, caregiving and elder care, animal care, early childhood assistance, office administration, and back-office support roles.

Certification and Employment Placement

At the completion of the program, graduates receive an official completion certificate recognizing their studies and practical training. Chimes Israel employment coordinators continue supporting graduates as they transition into the workforce by helping identify appropriate employment opportunities, preparing for interviews, and assisting with workplace integration. Ongoing guidance and follow-up help graduates build stable careers, maintain employment, and continue developing independence and confidence over time.

Meaningful employment can play a powerful role in recovery, stability, and personal growth for individuals living with mental health disabilities. Work provides structure, purpose, routine, social connection, financial independence, and a sense of belonging within the community. Through our Mental Health Employment Support program, Chimes Israel helps adults with mental health disabilities return to active and meaningful lives through supported employment in the open labor market. Participants are eligible for services through Israel’s Ministry of Health rehabilitation employment framework and receive individualized support based on their personal goals, strengths, and stage of recovery.

Supported Employment Through the Integration Program

The Integration Program places participants in competitive employment within regular workplaces throughout the community. Employment opportunities are carefully matched to each individual’s abilities, interests, experience, and aspirations. Participants work in a wide range of settings, including banks, law firms, universities, high-tech companies, food and catering services, warehouses, manufacturing facilities, and additional industries across the public and private sectors. Employment relationships follow standard employer-employee arrangements, with wages, rights, and working conditions provided in accordance with Israeli labor law. Participants work as employees of the business itself, not as program staff, reinforcing dignity, responsibility, equality, and inclusion.

Individualized Recovery and Employment Planning

Each participant works together with a Chimes Israel employment coordinator to develop a personalized rehabilitation and employment plan grounded in the principles of recovery, self-determination, and personal choice. Employment coordinators provide individualized guidance before and throughout employment, helping participants prepare for interviews, develop workplace skills, navigate challenges, strengthen communication, and maintain long-term workplace stability. The level of support adjusts according to individual needs and gradually changes as participants gain confidence, independence, and experience.

A Coordinated Support Network

The program operates in close collaboration with psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, housing support providers, Ministry of Health care coordinators, and additional rehabilitation professionals involved in the participant’s care. This coordinated approach creates continuity between employment, treatment, rehabilitation, and daily living support, helping participants build stable and meaningful lives within their communities.

The Transitions Program for Older Adults

Retirement and aging can create significant challenges for individuals living with mental health disabilities, including isolation, loss of routine, reduced social connection, and decreased community engagement. Chimes Israel’s Transitions Program supports adults ages 60 and above as they navigate the transition from employment into later adulthood. The program helps participants remain active, connected, engaged, and valued by building meaningful daily routines and opportunities for continued participation beyond paid employment.

Participants receive individualized guidance in identifying volunteer opportunities, social frameworks, leisure activities, learning opportunities, and community involvement that reflect their interests, strengths, and personal preferences. Staff work closely with rehabilitation services, welfare and health agencies, housing supports, and family members to ensure continuity of care and ongoing support throughout the transition process. By promoting structure, belonging, purpose, and community participation, the program helps older adults maintain quality of life, emotional well-being, and meaningful social connection throughout later adulthood.