Shalom,

My name is X and until two and a half years ago I was in the battered women’s shelter in Bat Melech. I came to the shelter after experiencing economic violence from my spouse, who prevented me from going to work or even think about any type of income or financial gain. I was left with thousands of shekels in debt…

It was only when I was in the process of leaving the shelter when I was trying to organize my life outside, that I realized my financial situation was like a bad movie. I had endless debt, I took loans nonstop and I no longer had credit card coverage. I had zero control over monthly expenses from my bank account.

I knew I had no chance of surviving this kind of life. I decided to call Paamonim for help and I started the counseling program.

The first meeting shook me completely.

I met with a volunteer guidance counselor of Paamonim, who is an accountant by profession, and I realized that my situation is far from good. Apart from the loans and debt I had, I was paying hundreds of shekel a month to all sorts of providers. I had no idea what and why.

After an initial call with the organization, I spoke to Leah who also became my counselor throughout the entire length of my process with Paamonim. When I met Leah during our first meeting together, I felt that I had found salvation.

We met every week, we built a budget and I learned to write down all my income and expenses. I felt she saw me beyond numbers. She gave me practical advice to be financially sound and planted seeds of hope that the situation could change and get better. This letter is a small attempt to thank her for her great dedication.

As the process continued and after months of meeting with Leah, my financial conditions have greatly improved. Though I still have loans, I succeeded in erasing the high monthly overdraft that was a constant in the past.

To recover from such a period takes time and requires hard work and effort each day, but my experience proves that it is possible! You have to get up every morning and believe you can get out of need! I ask you to publish this letter, and distribute it to people who are in the place I was, who will believe in the ability to change!

I would like to say thank you again to Leah. Leah did so much more than just volunteer.

Great job on your work and your helpful tools.

With appreciation,

X

Bohdana family from Rishon LeZion

Lydia and Roy continued to take out loans every time their overdraft reached its credit limit. They found themselves in debt of 300,000 NIS. They didn’t know how to get out of their situation, but they realized that they had to act quickly before things got out of hand.

About a month before they approached Paamonim, Lydia and Roy had to turn to their parents for urgent help. The bank informed them that their bank account and their credit cards had been blocked. It was a moment that helped them decide to make a change and at the recommendation of Roy’s colleague, decided to contact Paamonim for help.

The process was not simple. From the start Lydia and Roy were asked to write down each expense. Together with their Paamonim advisor, they examined each of the expenses in order to understand what their real situation was and where the money was going. Lydia, who was generally the one managing the family’s household finances, was not surprised by what the expenses had showed. However, the numbers that were discovered surprised Roy, who was less involved in the daily financial management. Lydia and Roy are no exception. Like them, most of the families who receive counseling from Paamonim are not fully aware of their financial situation when they begin the process, and generally underestimate their average monthly expenses.

Lydia and Roy received counseling from Paamonim for half a year. Boaz, Paamonim’s volunteer counselor helped them see the full extent of their economic situation and helped identify their pitfalls.

“Boaz maintained neutrality throughout the entire process. Because he had no alternative interests, he gained our trust and helped us understand the actions that we would need to take in order to improve our situation.”

The couple was faced with making difficult decisions affecting the quality of their daily lives. “Giving up the family car was the hardest,” says Lydia. “We had an expensive vehicle and my husband had a hard time giving it up, but we realized that maintaining it made it difficult for us to straighten out our finances and that we had no other choice.”

“After a few months, we managed to achieve balance between our income and expenses. We are now in control of our finances; our budget is organized and our financial conduct is different. We no longer take loans- we live with what we have, and we definitely do not deepen our debt

Inbal and Lior’s

Inbal works as a bookkeeper in the public sector and Lior as a technical manager. Inbal was referred to Paamonim by a social worker, after describing her tough financial situation in which her expenses were so great that she wasn’t managing to make ends meet. After reaching out to the organization, the couple met with a Paamonim volunteer in their region.

After their first meeting with the volunteer, Inbal and Lior decided to proceed with Paamonim’s help and began to make significant changes. They compiled all necessary documents for analyzing their financial state, including: bank statements, bills, and information on all monthly expenses. During their second meeting with the volunteer, the couple created a monthly budget according to their household needs and earning capacity. Over the course of the year, Inbal and Lior made significant changes to reduce their expenses and stick to their budget. Throughout the process of meeting with their volunteer counselor, the couple began to make significant lifestyle changes, including planning all expenses, utilizing wise consumerism and making calculated financial decisions. Through the process with Paamonim, Inbal and Lior improved their situation significantly and are today in control over their financial affairs.

 “Our only regret was not turning to Paamonim earlier, during the initial stages of our financial decline,” said Inbal. For Inbal, the most effective method for gaining control over her economic affairs was learning to budget and manage expenses- something that, until today, had created a deficit in the family’s household budget. Inbal and Lior successfully reduced their expenses by thousands of Shekel, and today they are saving money each month by continuing to utilize the knowledge and skills they learned from Paamonim.

Nuriel Family

Nava Nuriel (51) separated from her husband and lives next to the city of Tivon with her youngest daughter out of 6 children ages 13, 16, 19, 23, 24, and 27. Nava works in holistic medicine.

“Today, Paamonim is like family to me. My mentor Avi Hirsch walks beside me, supports me, cares about me. The people around me also see the big changes in me and I immediately include them in my long journey that I went through with this organization.”

“I came to Paamonim shortly after I separated from my husband, in order to receive legal advice and recommendations to return the debt I owed- totaling about 60,000 NIS to the bank and additional debt to different governmental agencies like National Insurance Agency which came to 100,000 NIS. Definitely a decent sum,” Nava says from the clinic she works in. “That’s how I got to Avi Hirsch.”“In my previous relationship, there was never plenty. We were always chasing after food and money, so cutting back on expenses didn’t bother me. What was important to me was to start a new, clean page. Closing my debt was my first task- and there is no doubt that I would have been able to stand by this task had it not been for the counseling and guidance of the organization that gave me the strengthen to believe in myself, the support, and for the first time in my life, the feeling that I had someone to talk to. Avi pushed me to go to the bank and to all of the other relevant offices, and always checked after me to find out the results.”

“Today, almost 7 months since the start of the process, after years of being confined to the bank, we reached an arrangement and I even managed to open a bank account. Though I’m still not in the stage of savings, I have started to advance my business further. Avi taught me not to chase after customers all the time and in essence gave me the feeling the I was not alone, that I had someone to run with.”

Nava tells that in the past she would hitchhike to get to her clients, but today she has a driving license and a car. “It sounds like the life before Paamonim and the life after- and that’s exactly how it is,” she laughs. “Today, I don’t have financial fear and that’s important. Today I have regular clients and the spa that I work with agreed to pay me a fixed monthly amount- something that no employee has ever received before me. Today I also conduct workshops and lectures on the subject, and people turn to me- it’s simply a blessing. In the past, I always dreamed. Today, I am already past the stage of the dream; I’m in the stage of the realization, implementation, and things are simply happening. In the past, though I worked very hard in a difficult field, the money would just flee from me. Today there is plenty and more, because of Paamonim and because of Avi’s belief in me, more so than my work. I was always the one who carried everything on my back. But today, I am in a much better financial state. I can see all of my options and look ahead. This isn’t something simple when you work in this type of profession.”

 Levy Family

Anat Levy (48) divorced 20 years and single mom to 2 older children, Aharon Matanel (24) and Hodaya Bat-el (21)- a fighter in the IDF artillery corps, living in the neighborhood of Har Choma, Jerusalem

“Thanks to Paamonim, for the first time I am managing to save money and finally realize an old dream- to fly to Uman.”

Anat has been working for about 20 years in Jerusalem’s water corporation, Gihon. As the sole provider for her family, Anat came to Paamonim, in essence because, “I wanted to end my wasteful spending” she says.  The overdraft in Anat’s account has also been closed now, also due to her second job as a housekeeper. With the help of Paamonim, Anat is today seeing dramatic changes in her financial state.  According to Anat, the process also provided her with the tools to manage a better and more proper economic life: “As a single mother, the burden falls on me alone. I work hard at two jobs, but it was clear to me that I wasting much more money than I needed, essentially because I don’t want my children to lack anything. So, I am thankful for Paamonim. In the past, I would waste most of my money on clothing, today it’s on food. My two children live at home with me. My girl is in the army and my boy just returned home from India, and the expenses only grow larger. Think about it- in the past I could be spending 700 NIS at the grocery store only for Shabbat dinner, knowing that part of the items that I bought are just superfluous. It was uncontrollable, and when the bill would come I would get so frustrated. Until I decided that enough was enough. Enough working hard at two jobs and still living in overdraft. You can say that I came to Paamonim to rest a bit from all of the pressure.”

“I am still in the middle of the process, but I already see significant changes in my financial situation. I narrowed down my four credit cards to one, and I use it as an ‘emergency visa’ in case I’m stuck without fuel or pocket money. I don’t take out more than 500 NIS a month on it. The shopping has plummeted and I don’t dare leave my house without a list. For example, last Friday I only bought vegetables for 100 NIS because I had other groceries at home. I buy what I need and not beyond that. Clothing is no longer a crazy story. In the past if I would buy 4 or 5 items per purchase, now I can go through a month without buying anything, and if I do, it’s one item only.”

“Life is easier today, without the pressure my finances. For months now I haven’t been contacted by the bank, and finally I started to save! Most important- now I can realize my old dream to fly to Uman. If it were not for the amazing Riki from Paamonim, I don’t know if I would have survived this process. She is so encouraging, and this flight is definitely thanks to her. “

Wolfkovitch Family

When we started at Paamonim we had an overdraft of 20,000 ILS and two loans to pay off. I was so worried I could barely sleep at night. Though I was working, I was still not managing to get rid of the overdraft.

We began our Paamonim economic recovery program with Renana, our volunteer coach, who was warm and caring. Even when we were on the verge of giving up, she encouraged us to continue on.

When we began in July, it was the most difficult month for my family. When I would cry to Renana she would tell me to follow the process and I would succeed. Indeed, we succeeded, thanks to our dedicated coach. We have been in our recovery program for nearly a year, and can already see results. We have reached surplus in our bank account and are in control of all our expenses.

New Year’s Resolution: “Plan expenses carefully. Record all expenses and think twice before spending.”                 

Swisa Family

All of the debts really came between our family, causing so much anger and strife. With Paamonim’s help, my family is finally a family once again. And most importantly, I am finally calm, and even optimistic- something that I have never felt before in my life. I am truly thankful to Paamonim. – Shilav Swisa from Ashkelon

Millstein Family

Thanks to Paamonim my family is still active and functioning, I am an engineer working with employment counselors to find a suitable job, and my financial life coach Aviram is teaching me to live within my limits. Thank you Paamonim. – Yaakov Millstein from Mazkeret Batya, Widow with 3 kids

Revach Family

I’m a single mom to three kids, and I’m a participant in Paamonim’s workshop. Aside from all of the helpful tools and materials, I have amazing trainers who gave me the strength to start to rebuild my life. They opened doors that were closed to me before, and they gave me the confidence and the courage to change. They showed me a whole new world. As a single mother raising my family alone, Paamonim gave me confidence and faith in myself. The trainers support you throughout the whole process- they give you the strength and the motivation to keep pushing forward until you succeed. -Natali Revach