The Sderot center, which is being established together with the Department of Public Policy and Administration, works with residents of underprivileged neighborhoods in Sderot to identify and address the issues that adversely affect their lives.
The rights-based community practice (RBCP) model incorporates organizing strategies to build community solidarity and mutual support. These are particularly important commodities in a community that faces the economic, social and security challenges that the people of Sderot contend with. The model fosters individual development by assisting individuals who approach the center initially as constituents to become volunteers supporting others, activists advancing community issues and eventually members of the center steering committee.
The MMEP model already serves as a teaching model for Sapir College students in the departments of social work and public policy and administration. Students in these departments are being trained to gather and analyze data that they receive from community members through a process of outreach and service learning in the community. Students have already visited the homes of over one hundred residents of the city of Sderot and are simultaneously working with individuals identified through the data collection process to address issues of disentitlement such as housing benefits and income and employment opportunities.
