Vision, Mission and Action • Orit Zeevi Cohen, CEO of Neve Yosef Community Center

(Hai Pa) – In the center of East Haifa, in the heart of a complex and multifaceted neighborhood, one woman works with quiet strength and endless dedication – Orit Zeevi Cohen, CEO of Neve Yosef Community Center. 42 years old, mother of two children, and with over a decade of experience in the community center network, including managing the community center network in Migdal HaEmek – Orit brings with her to the role a spirit of community mission, love for people, and a deep social vision.

Since taking office about a year and a half ago – in the midst of a war – Orit has had to cope with and lead a system in an emergency routine. The community center has quickly transformed from a focus of educational and cultural activity to a real community assistance center: repairing shelters, distributing medicine, providing Zoom training, assisting in obtaining computers for families with many children, and operating learning and recreation centers for children and adults in protected spaces.

"In an emergency, we simply see the resident and see their need," says Orit, "and our team is loyal, creative, and full of heart and soul."

One neighborhood, many communities – and one community center connects

The Neve Yosef neighborhood is the essence of all of Israel: immigrants from the Commonwealth, Ethiopians, the Eritrean community, and Arab and Jewish residents alike. "The complexity here is daily," says Orit, "but it is precisely from this place that our strength is also built."

The community center has become a true shared space – connecting religions, sectors, and cultures. "We celebrate all the holidays – Ramadan, Novena, Hanukkah – out of mutual respect. We don't feel any difference between one another here. It's one community – with many faces and one heart."

One expression of this is the mixed composition of the staff and volunteers, who come from all neighborhoods of the city. "Everyone feels like they belong – and that's the secret of the magic."

Culture is not a luxury – it is a basic right

For Orit, culture is not a luxury but a basic necessity. According to her, "People don't go to the movies, they don't consume culture - because it's simply not accessible to them." Therefore, she has renewed the activities of the community center's cultural hall, and is leading a series of film screenings, plays, music performances, lectures and theater - for all ages. "Each film attracts at least a hundred viewers. This is proof that there is a thirst - you just have to bring it to them."

Creativity and resource mobilization – because the community has no time to wait. One of the elements that makes the Neve Yosef Community Center unique is its ability to mobilize resources and reinvent itself. “We all get involved – and create solutions together,” says Orit proudly. Thanks to collaborations with the Haifa Municipality, the Welfare Department, the Education Department, the Community Center Association, and private donors, diverse programs are being implemented – including support groups for parents of children with disabilities, integrated activities for children with and without disabilities, summer camps, trips, happenings, and a new community choir on the way.

Education, prevention, and second chances

The community center's educational activities are not limited to classes. The Neve Yosef center operates a well-developed learning center, which offers personal tutoring, study groups in different languages, reading and writing studies, and technological training. Many volunteers - from the Technion, management personnel, and more - come voluntarily to help. "This is the way to prevent a decline in crime or vagrancy," explains Orit, "to give residents a sense of belonging and security." For example, last summer in the Halisa neighborhood, which experienced a difficult period in terms of security, in cooperation with the school and the education department in the municipality, a complete program was built for children - so that they would not be bored on the street. "The responses were amazing - the children felt that they had a safe place to be."

A team of 800 beating hearts

Behind all this activity stands a huge team – about 800 employees, including after-school staff, coordinators, instructors, volunteers and field workers. Orit speaks of them with excitement: "Without their heart, without their faith – none of this would have happened. They work with heart and soul, out of a sense of mission, out of love for the community."

The management also contributes greatly to the success – with the new chairman of the board of directors, Yaniv Ben-Shoshan, who brings with him a clear vision: to strengthen culture in the neighborhoods and give the community a real place. "There is trust here – from the municipality, from the community center society – and that is not taken for granted."

When Orit is asked what motivates her, she answers simply: "It's a mission. To see the resident, to see the employee, to provide a solution - and to do good."

But it's not just a vision – it's a way of life. "We can dream dreams – and make them come true the next morning. We have the strength, the knowledge, and the heart. All you need is to believe." Neve Yosef Community Center, established in 1987, remains much more than a municipal building – it is a home. And this home has a leader with a huge heart, eyes that see, and a great belief in what is possible – and especially in what is necessary.

Orit concludes the interview by saying: "This period reminds us of the power of unity, the importance of community, and the ability to grow and flourish even after periods of difficulty. These values ​​are a candle to our feet in our important work in the Neve Yosef community center network. May Passover and Easter bring joy, health, and prosperity to you and your families. May we all be blessed with true freedom, freedom of thought, and a life filled with good deeds and strong connections. Happy Passover and Easter, and may all our abductees return home."