The Forgotten People Fund

 A charity registered in Israel # 58-032-322-8

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Anthony Felix 

Vatikim, Netanya

Yoav Yassu and Hadas were both the children of parents who arrived in Israel from Ethiopia with Operation Moses in 1985.  Both went to high school in Israel and learned to read, write and speak Hebrew. Yoav served in the Israeli army and after he finished his army service he went to work and earned enough money to get married. Hadas was the daughter of friends of his parents. He went out with her, they fell in love and were married.

Yoav had a steady job with the Hoogla Paper Products Company in the old industrial area of  Netanya and earned a decent living. The young couple lived with his parents in the Vatikim area of Netanya while they save money to buy their own apartment. They found one in the number 1 block of Neot Hefziba on the 3^rd floor (walkup), made the down payment and signed on for 30 years of mortgage payments like all young Israelis.

Hadas became pregnant with their first child and she immediately began having serious problems with her blood pressure. Her obstetrician told Yoav and Hadas that she could not walk up 3 flights of stairs or carry anything heavy. Hadas had to quit her job and stay at home if she was going to carry to full term. Now they had only one income to pay all the bills.

Then the roof fell in! Yoav had signed as a guarantor for one of his best friends when his friend purchased an apartment. Without telling any of the five guarantors, this friend took the money he received for his mortgage and left Israel. He had told everyone that he was going to Eilat on holiday. When his mortgage payments weren’t made, the bank came after the guarantors and Yoav was presented with an amount of shekels to pay that he could never have imagined. For the first time in their lives, Yoav and Hadas sought out a social worker to see how they could get some help. Their social worker, Gideon, called FPF to see if there was any way that we could help the Yassus.

FPF took care of all of Yoav and Hadas’ expenses – utility bills and, mortgage payments – and provided food vouchers so that Yoav could pay the bank for his friend’s mortgage every month and not lose his own apartment. When Hadas gave birth to Natalie, now 8, FPF provided diapers, clothing and educational toys and books. When Natalie was 6 months old, Hadas placed her in the care of a young woman who had another two babies she was taking care of, and Hadas went back to work as a supermarket cashier (shiftwork). If Hadas had to work evenings, Yoav would be home to take care of Natalie.

Two and a half years later, Hadas was pregnant again and the same problems with blood pressure recurred, this time much worse than when she was pregnant with Natalie. This time she had a 2½  year old to take care of and not being able to walk up and down 3 flights of stairs presented a serious problem. The young couple decided that they had no choice but to sell their apartment and find another on the ground floor.  They found one on Zuaretz Street and undertook a mortgage that was a little higher than the one they had paid on their previous apartment. When their son was born, Natalie was in day care and after six months, her brother joined her and Hadas went back to work.

Hadas was pregnant with their third child when police came to her door one night to tell her that Yoav had been killed in a fight with one of his friends. Yoav and his friend, a security guard, were sitting in a café drinking beer when his friend pulled a gun and shot Yoav in the chest. Yoav died on his way to the hospital.  Now Hadas was alone with two children and a third on the way (now 2). Since then, FPF has been helping Hadas with all the financial problems that Yoav left (lots of unpaid bills) but never told her about them. We regularly provide food vouchers, clothing and vitamins, and Hadas knows she can depend on FPF.

Hadas says that if FPF hadn’t been there for her she could never have survived the past tow years. She has regained some of her confidence and is planning to put the baby in day care so that she can work regularly. She does occasional jobs cleaning apartments, but wants to go back to working the way she used to.