MELABEV's mission is to make it possible for the impaired elderly to continue living at home and remain part of their community. The quality, sensitive day care we provide enables the families to pursue their own lives during the hours that our doors are open. We often are told how eager the elderly are to get up in the morning when they can say, "I'm going to MELABEV today!" And we certainly hear how relieved their families are: "Without MELABEV, we couldn't manage!"

MELABEV'S specialized programs are also available for English speakers as well as Russian speakers.

In recognition of its contribution to the welfare of the community, MELABEV receives government and public support but it still depends on grants and donations for 40% of its annual operating budget.

Begun as an all-volunteer agency, today MELABEV is run by a team of highly professional workers. However we rely on our 150 volunteers who fulfill a wide range of tasks. Many serve as drivers, who transport the elderly between their homes and our centers; while others assist in our centers as auxillary workers, help in the office, or join our speakers bureau. We believe that the combination of professionals and volunteers working side by side will provide the best trained and loving care our clients deserve.

By keeping the elderly in the comfort of their familiar homes-and out of institutions-MELABEV benefits the elderly themselves, their families, and the community at large.

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By the early 1980's the geriatric social worker and the Director of Geriatric Medicine at Shaare Zedek Medical Center realized that cognitively impaired elderly people were being released from the hospital following an acute illness, although there were no resources in the community for dealing with their on-going dementia. Some of these elderly had suffered a stroke or CVA or were the victims of Alzheimer's disease. They experienced confused states and memory loss. Their families had no recourse to any support services.

In 1981, Leah Abramowitz, MSW, and Prof. Arnold Rosin opened the first day care center in Jerusalem for the elderly, and it was among the first in the country to provide for the demented. An all-volunteer staff assisted them. They called their project MELABEV, an acronym from the Hebrew which roughly translates as Community Clubs for Eldercare. Also, (in the Hebrew) "lamed-bet" for heart, is at the center of MELABEV.

From the beginning, the staff and its directors tried, with all their heart, to increase the quality of life of the elderly, and to ease the burdens on their families. More families began sending their cognitively impaired parents or spouses to MELABEV and to look to the organization for guidance and support.

The staff of MELABEV make every effort to find the best care methods and the most dynamic and innovative approaches available for treating this part of the population. Alzheimer's disease cannot be cured, but its symptoms can be managed. This is possible not only through pharmacological advances, but also through the use of a social modification model that is operative at MELABEV.

Gradually MELABEV evolved a network of therapeutic and social day care centers growing from one center to four in as many years. We opened the first "Memory Club" for the mildly impaired in 1995. By our 20th anniversary, in 2001, MELABEV already operated seven day care centers and memory clubs, housed in leased facilities throughout the city. In 2002, in Pisgat Zeev, in the northern part of Jerusalem, we opened the first building of our very own, designed to meet the specific needs of our elderly. This building enabled us to expand on many of our creative projects, such as garden therapy, individualized computer instruction, and Snoezelen care in a multi-sensory relaxation room.

The staff at MELABEV is encouraged to do research, to be innovative in their work with these elderly, and to publish and present their findings at national and even international conferences of professionals. From its pioneering beginnings in the 1980's, to today's full range of services for the mentally impaired elderly and their caregivers, MELABEV has served as a model in this specialized field of Psychogeriatrics in Israel.

As a result of our many services to the community, MELABEV has received numerous awards, among them the Clore 50th Anniversary Prize (1998), the Jerusalem Prize (2001), the Zusman-JDC-Israel Prize, presented by Ralph Goldman of the JOINT and the President of Israel (2002) and the Israel Gerontological Society Award (2005).

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