The WIZO Fanny Cohen Open House for Families in Sderot
Supporting Community Recovery in the Gaza Envelope Region
Just a few kilometers from the Gaza border, in the heart of Sderot, you’ll find the WIZO Fanny Cohen Open House — a place where healing happens every day. WIZO has been running this center since 2007, and for years it served as a lifeline for families living with the daily reality of conflict. After October 7, 2023, and the war that followed, everything changed. The need became overwhelming.
The Fanny Cohen Open House is where families, children, and individuals from Sderot and throughout the Gaza Envelope region come when they need support. We provide trauma-informed care in a space that feels safe and welcoming. For people who’ve lived through years of rocket fire — and now war and displacement — this center offers something precious: a place to heal.
Before October 7, we knew of about 500 Sderot residents who were dealing with trauma. Today? That number has jumped to over 3,000 — that’s roughly 10% of our city’s population. And we know there are many more who haven’t been counted yet: kids who are scared to leave their homes, parents who don’t know how to help their families cope, people carrying wounds that run deep. We’re doing everything we can to help, but honestly, the need is bigger than what we can handle right now.
We offer programs for everyone in Sderot and the surrounding communities. People choose what works for them — nothing is forced, and everyone is welcome. Our parent-child workshops use storytelling, gardening, and play to help kids work through what they’ve experienced while bringing families closer together. We run groups focused on parenting after trauma, along with art therapy, photo therapy, and cooking workshops. Through WIZO’s “Safety Net” program, we also support women who are dealing with domestic violence.
Regular gatherings bring people together — dog therapy sessions, music circles, art projects, movie nights, and community gardening. These aren’t just activities; they’re chances for people to connect and heal together. Men carry trauma too, and we’re launching a new group in 2025 where fathers and partners can talk openly, connect with each other, and find support.
The statistics are hard to face. 39% of children in Sderot need mental health support, but only 4% have actually received treatment. We simply don’t have enough resources to reach everyone who needs help. With additional support, we could expand our facilities to create dedicated spaces for therapy and activities, bring in more professionals so we never have to turn families away, and start new programs that serve people of every age and background.
Sderot represents something bigger than just one city. We’ve become a symbol of what it means to keep going, to rebuild, to refuse to give up. There’s something we say here: “If we cannot live in Sderot, we will not be able to live in Israel.”
When you support the Fanny Cohen Open House, you’re helping transform trauma into strength, fear into security, and despair into hope. You’re helping ensure that people here — and throughout Israel — can build lives that feel normal, meaningful, and safe. The work isn’t easy, but it’s necessary. And it’s working. Every day, we see people finding their way back to themselves, families growing stronger, and a community that refuses to be broken.
CHANGE A LIFE TODAY
WIZO USA, The Women’s International Zionist Organization, is a worldwide non-profit organization that operates over 800 social welfare projects in Israel.
Address
Beverly Hills, CA 9021
Phone
Fax: 212-751-6818