Mercaz Harmony was founded in 1985 by Joan Shrensky as a non-profit educational organization through which children with disabilities and their typical peers grow and learn together. The goal of Mercaz Harmony is the inclusion of children with disabilities into the mainstream of life in a variety of settings – from the child’s home to his or her educational institution to the entire community. In response to the requests of parents of children with special needs, this inclusive center was started on a shoestring budget. Coming from her position as the special needs coordinator for the tri-state regional Head Start Program in the North East United States, Joan parlayed Mercaz Harmony’s inclusion program into a success story. Using state of the art methodologies in special education and inclusion, the team at Mercaz Harmony created an impressive model school as well as a full compliment of services to assure that Israel’s children with disabilities and their families can exercise their rights for inclusion in a qualitative manner.

Some programs offered:

• Model inclusive kindergarten
• Infant services
• Inclusion facilitation into regular schools
• Women’s Center (for mother’s of children with special needs)
• Public Awareness workshops
• Support groups
• Big Brother/Sister Volunteer Program
• Olim Assistance Project
• International Consultation