In parallel to the social campaign that the National Insurance Institute promotes on the importance of respect for the elderly, on 04/09/23 a convention was held to honor the thousands of volunteers in the counseling service for the elderly and their family
The conference was held at the Tel Aviv Expo, it is a unique volunteer conference that took place on the 50th anniversary of this service.
The National Insurance Institute gives the elderly a focal place and cares about their rights, not only in the provision of long-term care and old-age allowances and services, but also on an emotional and supportive level. To this end, 50 years ago, the counseling Service for the Elderly and their Family was established to help seniors
in successfully coping with the variety of challenges they face at this stage of their lives.
The service centers, located throughout the branches of the National Insurance Institute, provide them with volunteer pensioners, who have been trained in professional courses, and provide them with personal counseling, assistance in exercising their rights, social home visits, assistance in filling out forms, providing help in translation and information in various languages, giving them and their families extensive support, and more.
The service centers provide an attentive ear to every small and large problem, and if necessary, they are referred by the consultant for further assistance at other service centers in the community.
In addition to the personal counseling, the volunteers provide recommendations as how to obtain information and guidance in the framework of information days held by the Division for various groups:
widows and widowers, divorced persons, new pensioners and support groups.
Among the unique workshops are for instance: Retirement workshop for takin-up rights - offered to those who are two years way from retirement, widows and widowers, as well as financial advice for women who were not the main breadwinners in the household over the years.
As part of the counseling service for the elderly and their family, a special telephone response was established with a call routing system that allows leaving a request in five different languages, and the representatives return to the callers in their own language.
The telephone response *9696 answers more than 100,000 inquiries a year, "Tviaphone" - for filing long-term care claims over the phone and so forth.
This array of volunteers operates throughout the country, from north to south. Volunteers visit the homes of the elderly, talk to them and relieve their loneliness.
In this way, this array joins the social campaign initiated by the National Insurance Institute and calls for respect towards the elderly, a campaign that has recently been uploaded to social networks and media, and talks about a conscious perception of "respect towards the elderly in Israel."
Among the thousands of volunteers who came to the convention you could see those who have been volunteering for almost forty years, others who have been volunteering in the Bedouin sector, and there have also been exciting stories of volunteers who have been continuing the tradition of volunteering in social security for two generations.
Russian-speaking volunteers can also be seen helping the elderly who speak the language, as well as translators for the elderly who speak Amharic, from the population of Ethiopian immigrants.
We spoke at the convention with a couple, the Panish family, a husband and wife, who came to the conference held in Tel Aviv, from the northern city of Tiberias.
The wife has been volunteering for about 8 years and her husband Meir for about 18 years. Meir volunteers twice a week, four hours at a time.
When we asked Meir what are from him the rewards of volunteering, he answered that: "There is an appreciative attitude towards the National Insurance volunteers, I see it as a job in every respect, a commitment, and not volunteering."
Or, for example, Mr. Yaakov Makayes, who also came from the city of Tiberias. Through volunteering he follows the path of his mother, the late Rachel Makayes, who received the "City's Esteem" award from Tiberias, for her volunteering at the National Insurance Institute in this framework, according to her: "The idea is to try to help and leave with a bigger load than what you gave. The is a great experience, I get to know the whole environment of the patient. This is an unusual experience. "
- Ms. Vera Shalom, Director of the Counseling Service for the Elderly and their Family Department at the National Insurance Institute, said, among other things, that "there is no greater satisfaction than genuine giving that saves lives."
- The President of the State of Israel, Mr. Yitzhak Herzog, congratulated the volunteers and added that "one of the tests of each society is the way it behaves in old-age." He then turned to volunteers with this message: "The fact that you, being elder adult yourselves, go on home visits - you deserve to be thanked."
- The Minister of Labor, Mr. Yoav Ben Tzur said that: "If I took it upon myself to be the minister in charge for this moment - it was worthwhile" In addition, he noted that his close family, his older sister and his father's sister are volunteering in this initiative. "The sense of mission I feel at the National Insurance Institute surpasses all other things. This is a dedicated organization and an array of volunteers among the largest in Israel." He concluded his remarks with a pledge: "I will do everything during my tenure to raise the old-age pension."
- Acting Director General of the National Insurance Institute, Ms. Yaronah Shalom: "You, dear volunteers, give people the strength to live. This is an opportunity to praise and thank you. Our ability to give to senior citizens improves the face of society. You validate the verse "Do not throw me away in old age, we will do good will be good".
- Uriel Cazom, Vice Director General of National Insurance Benefits: In his speech, he spoke about his mother who participated in a workshop for widows and widowers, and how these meetings changed her life. And said that the volunteers are "soul actors who bring added value to the allowances, I hope your families recognize and appreciate the value of your deeds."
The 5,000 National Insurance volunteers' convention ended with a stand-up performance by Guri Alfi and a heartwarming performance by Idan Rachel and his band.