About Us

As parents, therapists and professionals we know that the first years are the most important and significant years in the lives of our children.

From the age of six months to six years our children grow, develop, learn, with us beside them – step by step. This period is of crucial importance for professional diagnoses, early interventions and the provision of caring tools that help to improve the child’s sight and assist him in coping with sight impairment and associated problems.

We believe that self-confidence and independence are the key factors for optimal functioning. We therefore encourage our children to be independent from the earliest steps of their lives. These are the values that guide us in our care, guidance, support and provision of tools to help them throughout their journey into adulthood.

ELIYA is the leading association in this area in Israel. We operate rehabilitation Day Care Centers advancing children with blindness or impaired vision during the formative period of their lives from six months to six years.

We base our activities on the understanding that vision affects all areas of development, it is the organizing sense that connects us to our environment and stimulates curiosity. It is through our eyes that we absorb and understand the world. Sight affects the motoric, cognitive and behavioral skills. The severity of the impairment and its nature are the main factors affecting the child’s ability to see and develop.

ELIYA was first founded in 1982, and currently operates programs for more than 145 children through five regional Day Care Centers: Petach-Tikva, Rehovot, Beer-Sheva, Jerusalem and Kfar Hamaccabi in the North.

We serve children from diverse backgrounds – new immigrants, religious and secular Jews, Christians and Muslims – without religious or racial discrimination.