Photo courtesy of the Jerusalem Foundation Archive
1982
Every child deserves a home. A loving and caring place where their needs are met, where they can grow, play, and flourish, and where they are free to experience the world simply as children. For many young people with severe physical disabilities, however, such an environment can be difficult to sustain within a typical household. The level of medical care, specialized equipment, and physical accessibility required often exceeds what families are able to provide on their own. In Jerusalem, the Ilan Family Home, known today as Beit Tamar, was created to answer precisely this need.
Established in 1982 in the Nachla’ot neighborhood, the Ilan Family Home was the first residential family-style home in Israel for school-age children with severe physical disabilities. The initiative emerged through the work of ILAN, the national organization dedicated to supporting children, youth, and adults with physical disabilities throughout their lives. Through rehabilitation programs, education, community frameworks, and advocacy, ILAN works to ensure that people with physical disabilities can participate fully and independently in Israeli society. With support from the Jerusalem Foundation, the home was established to provide a stable and nurturing environment for children whose physical conditions require constant assistance and specialized care.
From the beginning the model was distinctive. Rather than functioning as a medical institution, the home was conceived as a family environment. Twelve children could live there on a permanent basis, while additional children could benefit from respite care programs offering temporary stays for up to fifty young people whose families needed support. The Jerusalem Foundation helped renovate the original building and provided the equipment and resources necessary to meet the complex physical needs of the home’s residents.
Many children with severe physical disabilities attend specialized schools and educational programs during the day, yet their homes are not always equipped with the infrastructure required for their full care. Beit Tamar provides an environment where that care can be delivered safely and consistently. Residents leave each morning for their educational institutions across the city and return in the afternoon to a home designed specifically for them, with accessible living spaces, professional caregiving staff, and specialized equipment that supports mobility, therapy, and daily life.
Yet physical care alone does not define life at Beit Tamar. The home was built around the understanding that children also need community, friendship, and opportunity. Residents participate in social and recreational activities that encourage creativity, interaction, and independence. Shared meals, celebrations, outings, and extracurricular programs help create an atmosphere that resembles family life as closely as possible. Within this supportive setting, children are able not only to receive care but to build relationships and develop confidence in their abilities.
As the needs of its residents evolved, so too did the physical environment of the home. In 2007 the Jerusalem Foundation supported the construction of a new facility on the ground floor of a modern building in the Givat Masu’a neighborhood. The new space provided updated accessibility standards and living areas designed specifically for the complex requirements of its residents. In time the home came to be known as Beit Tamar, honoring Tamar Kollek, the wife of Jerusalem’s longtime mayor Teddy Kollek. Tamar Kollek served as chair of the board of the Jerusalem ILAN branch for twenty-five years and played an important role in advancing support for children with disabilities in the city.
Special needs require thoughtful and specialized care. For more than four decades Beit Tamar has provided precisely that for some of Jerusalem’s most vulnerable children. By offering professional support within a warm and stable home environment, it allows young residents to experience childhood with dignity, friendship, and belonging.
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