Muss High School Campus Welcomes Evacuees

Just days after October 7, Jewish National Fund-USA’s Alexander Muss High School in Israel (AMHSI) sent its American students participating in their study abroad program back home. Within hours, a new group of residents arrived: evacuated Israeli families from towns near Gaza. 

“Once the decision was made to send students home, we knew that we had the space and infrastructure to host families, especially those with kids,” said Lisa Biton, AMHSI’s Dean of Israel Studies. “We knew right away that we wanted to do whatever we could to help. Our first evacuees moved into campus the same afternoon that the students left.” 

The entire AMHSI team mobilized to change gears and welcome families to the Hod Hasharon campus, which includes dormitories, a dining hall, and recreational facilities.  

The staff and madrichim (counselors) hit the ground running as they welcomed people from several different communities, including Sderot and Ashkelon. According to Orit Omer, Human Resources Director of Jewish National Fund-USA’s Israel Operations, they understood immediately that their team must remain flexible and listen to what was needed for each individual family. For instance, they quickly learned that the families felt most comfortable living in the same building as the neighbors from their home communities. They continue to field ever-changing requests, from education to healthcare and everything between. “What you need after three days is not what you need after two weeks or after three months,” Omer explained. “We knew we needed to make this a home; it’s not a vacation, it’s not taking a few days just staying somewhere.”  

Noa Field, a social worker for AMHSI, said that the entire team takes great pride in the coordination of care for the evacuees. “Other families are staying in hotels in Eilat, which are much fancier than our dorms,” she shared, “but they don’t get what the people get here—they don’t get this environment and the people trying to fulfill their needs.” She also said that the families themselves play an active role in participating on the logistics team; the goal is to give them the strength and confidence to build their communities again when they go back. 

“They are facing the biggest uncertainty of their lives,” she said. “Our job right now is to do our best to give them as much certainty as possible in every field we can, and I feel very proud I’m part of it.” 

Learn more about Alexander Muss High School in Israel at AMHSI.org