Helping Hadar

A dedicated teacher asks for help in her effort to save her student-at-risk

by KR

0 Comments | Thursday, October 28, 2021 under Job Training, Emergency Fund

When Ayala B., a high school mechanehet (head teacher), first met Hadar “it was like meeting a lost soul”, she says. “She seemed so lost... but at the same time I could also sense there was something special about this girl...I couldn’t put my finger on it but I could see it in her eyes...whatever that “something” was, though, was hidden behind pain, sadness, confusion…”.

It was true. 

Hadar, 17, grew up in a difficult home environment, her parents at odds and fighting with one another on a continuous basis for years. Finally, they divorced. Hadar’s father walked out, leaving the family alone and struggling, her newly single mother trying her best to raise her four young children on an income as a teacher’s assistant in a school for children with special needs. It was not a significant salary, not nearly enough with which to support a family of five. Their lives were filled with one hurdle after another, and the purchase of every necessity - even the smallest, like milk and eggs, a schoolbook or new shirt - served as an obstacle to overcome. Many could not be, forcing the family to go without. And Hadar’s father was absent. None of his children heard from him and he sent no financial support. 

A special spark

Over the years the challenges in Hadar’s home increased and the situation only worsened, despite her mother’s efforts. Hadar got involved with the wrong crowd and began to go off the derech. “When she first came to us, she was in a bad place..in so many aspects of her life..” Ayala remembers. “But despite her pain and struggle, which you could see right away, it didn’t take us long to also notice that hard-to-describe ‘spark’ about her. The staff at our school realized that this was a bright girl, a warm girl, someone with potential, someone who might well be able to succeed and get back on track if we could work with her and find her strengths.”

And it was true. 
 

The investment pays off

“We found the more we invested in Hadar,” Ayala continues, “the more time we spent just listening, just supporting and encouraging her, the faster she grew -not only emotionally, not only academically but, b’chasei Hashem, religiously, too. She grew to love yiddishkeit, to appreciate it - and embrace it.”

Hadar’s turnaround not only propelled her forward so she excelled in school by the end of her senior year, it also nurtured a drive in her to study in seminar where she could continue to learn and grow. She knew she still had a ways to go but she was motivated and eager. Hadar had one major obstacle, though, one she was all too familiar with: money.

Hadar’s mother, always supportive, wanted to contribute towards her tuition fee and did so, using a small amount of “emergency” savings she had scraped together over a few months. She felt this qualified as an emergency, and one certainly worthy of the money’s use.  Hadar’s teachers and school staff got together and collected funds on her behalf. Hadar herself contributed money she had earned from babysitting and doing odd jobs here and there. And they were almost there.

But not yet.
 

Paving a new path

Even with a discount from the seminar, despite the combined efforts put forth, they were still short the full amount. So Ayala reached out for help. “We are so close to our goal”, she wrote, in her request to American Friends of Yad Eliezer, “and after witnessing Hadar’s transformation we know that she will flourish with this additional learning. She will be able to accomplish so much...paving a new, productive path not only for herself but for future generations after her. Will you please help us?”

Less than a day after Ayala’s request reached us, contributors stepped forward, eagerly providing the missing tuition amount. 
Donors to American Friends of Yad Eliezer have a reputation for being extremely generous, for reaching out to make a difference in the lives of countless people like Hadar, who struggle with poverty-related issues, every single day. 

Do you know why our donors have that reputation?
Because it’s true.
 

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