Uplifting and empowering south Tel Aviv teens

Lin Yavgenia Levkov – A Promising life cut short:

Lin Yavgenia Levkov and her mother Irina immigrated to Israel in the height of the 1990s post-Soviet Aliyah wave. Lin’s childhood was difficult; she struggled at school and barely continued her education into high school. But this is where her story took a turn; Lin studied at Ort Sigalovski, a local high school, where she had a teacher that saw her and took her under her care. She studied hard and caught up to her classmates, and finally, graduated with honors.

Then came the next stage of her life; Lin chose to enlist in the combat unit; “The Lions of the Bekaa” a recently established gender-mixed unit, where young men and women serve and fight side by side. Lin was granted an individual permit which allowed her to leave her army base on Thursday morning, unlike her friends who rode IDF buses later in the day. It was on one of those Thursdays, on February 6th, 2019, that Lin’s life was tragically cut short, when she was killed in a car accident crossing the road of the base to get to the bus stop that would take her home in time for work.

Background:

Tel Aviv has been awarded the unflattering title of the most expensive city in the world. Yet many of its residents live in very low social-economic conditions, and the gaps are wide and hard to reduce. In some of the poor neighborhoods of South Tel Aviv, the unique combination of socioeconomic realities and lack of opportunities perpetuate the situation and prevent the social mobility of their population and specifically the younger generation. South Tel Aviv has a mere 13% of university graduates, the lowest in the city, especially in comparison to Tel Aviv’s more affluent northern and central neighborhoods, which have 34%. This remains a major challenge of the City of Tel Aviv-Yafo, that is committed to piloting diverse solutions to improve the socio-economic conditions of its southern neighborhoods.

The Project:

Uplifting south Tel Aviv`s youth with the help of innovative programing in partnership with the chosen high schools in southern Tel Aviv, the Lin Foundation selects the students that need the extra support during their senior year of high school, the last touchpoint of the municipal educational system, to give them a final chance to succeed.

The program focuses on special support for the students to graduate high school with grades that will open opportunities for higher education. Additionally, it will help direct the students into elite IDF units in for them to have a meaningful army service while contributing to Israel and gaining a positive entry point to Israeli society.

Throughout the year the students will be exposed to all the opportunities their future can entail, and with the guidance and motivation of their peers and leaders, Lin Foundation graduates will be able to envision and pursue a bright, successful future – the future that Lin Yavgenia Levkov deserved but tragically didn’t have a chance to realize.

Impact:

The teens who are selected to join the lin foundation will be empowered to believe in themselves and trust their inner compass. They will be aware of all the options that are available to them as high school graduates and take advantage of them, and by doing so become leaders in their communities.

Our goal is to give as many teens as possible the opportunity to join the Lin Foundation and embark on a life-changing journey. Your support will empower south Tel Aviv highschoolers and change their lives for the better.

Requested donation:

50,000 $