EMUNAH was started over 80 years ago by a group of religious Zionist women to provide emergency shelter and housing for orphans and refugee children escaping persecution and growing anti-Semitism in Europe and Arab countries. Today, EMUNAH (which means Faith in Hebrew) is one of Israel’s leading social service and humanitarian aid organizations, helping hundreds of thousands of Israel’s most disadvantaged and at-risk children and families build healthy, stable lives.

EMUNAH maintains five Residential Homes for children who have been removed from their families by court order due to physical, mental and/or sexual abuse, major familial dysfunction, the illness and/or death of a parent(s). These facilities offer a safe and loving home to more than 800 children ranging in age from 6-18, all suffering from various emotional and mental challenges including PTSD. Each child is given extensive support services including counseling and therapy to help break the cycle of dysfunction and trauma they have experienced. 

EMUNAH supports 11 Family Therapy and Emergency Crisis Counseling Centers serving individuals and families undergoing emotional and mental distress. 

EMUNAH maintains one of Israel’s largest networks of subsidized child care centers, with over 8,000 children attending 125 centers.

EMUNAH finances 11 specialized “multi-purpose” Day Care Centers. These Centers provide extended services, including family counseling, parenting workshops and specialized enrichment programs for at-risk children from economically disadvantaged single parent homes.

Aware of the need for quality religious and secular education, EMUNAH subsidizes four all-female high schools and a liberal arts college. These schools offer academic tracts in: science, biomedical engineering, computers, film, drama, music, and Judaic religious studies. More than 1,100 students attend, many from poverty-stricken, immigrant and refugee homes.

EMUNAH also maintains a senior-friendly eating together program providing social engagement and meals for Holocaust survivors and the elderly.

EMUNAH has been awarded the Israel Prize by the government in recognition of its “Lifetime achievement, contribution and impact on behalf of the Nation of Israel and its people.”