> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # OPCC helps Israel combat homelessness - URL: https://www.smdp.com/opcc-helps-israel-combat-homelessness/ - Published: 2007-03-27T15:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-24T00:18:28.000Z - Author: Kevin Herrera - Tags: Community, Santa Monica, #archive-import, Homeless, Homelessness *Israel no longer land of milk and honey for some* TEL AVIV, Israel It had been more than two decades since Debby Maddis lived here, and from the look of it, the years hadn’t been kind. While there was evidence of progress and development, with large construction cranes dotting the skyline, on the streets below Maddis could see all the signs of poverty and despair. There were women standing at street corners with musical instruments, begging for money in exchange for a song. Oftentimes, Maddis was approached by men looking for a handout. It was during these moments that Maddis, the associate director of OPCC in Santa Monica, realized that Tel Aviv was not the same city she remembered. “It was surprising and very striking for me to see homeless individuals on the streets,” Maddis said.“I had lived there 25 years ago at a time when the government took care of the social issues and there was a strong socialist movement. There was universal health care and other programs, and they still do, but now there are signs of poverty everywhere, which I had not seen before.” For at least 900 Jews in Tel-Aviv, and others across the country, Israel is no longer the land of milk and honey, but rather a harsh place to exist as unemployment has risen along with the number of destitute immigrants. Although the image lingers, both at home and abroad, of a country with a strong socialist legacy, the state welfare apparatus has begun to strain and buckle, according to observers. In 2003, one in six families lived in poverty, including 25 percent of all children, according to a report by the Knesset committee on social gaps. This poverty is what brought Maddis to Tel Aviv last month. An expert in breaking the cycle of homelessness, Maddis was included in a joint mission to Israel with the Tel Aviv/Los Angeles Partnership Task Force on Poverty, Food Insecurity and Employment. For two weeks, she met with social workers, government officials, leaders of non profits, the private sector and educators to share techniques used by OPCC to help clients in Santa Monica get back on their feet. OPCC (formerly Ocean Park Community Center) is the largest and most comprehensive provider of services on the Westside of Los Angeles to low income and homeless youth, adults and families, battered women and their children, and people living with mental illness. Funded by the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles, the delegation’s focus was on “models of client participation and family rehabilitation” in the context of addressing poverty and homelessness in Israel. Last spring, as part of the Partnership Task Force, social workers from Israel toured OPCC’s programs and learned how the organization fulfilled its mission of ending chronic homelessness and “empowering people to rebuild their lives.” Other delegates on the trip included representatives from Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles and First Day of Whittier. “It’s familiar and yet striking to see the globalization of poverty and homelessness,” Maddis said. “But it is encouraging to see Israel looking past their own government to solve its social problems. We hope that OPCC can be a model of inspiration for serving those in need in their own community.” Maddis shared ways in which OPCC empowers clients through a career ladder, including volunteer experience leading to peer positions and other employment opportunities within the agency. Over one-third of OPCC’s staff members are former clients of the organization. To represent such success stories, Rene Buchanan, Art Coordinator for OPCC’s Daybreak program, and a former OPCC client, also participated in the delegation to Israel. Buchanan presented the Israeli social workers with a selection of hand-made fine jewelry and artwork created by members of OPCC’s Daybreak Designs, a client-run arts and crafts’ enterprise operated by women dealing with the dual challenges of homelessness and mental illness. The Israeli representatives embraced the Daybreak model as a strategy for empowering co-existence groups of Arab and Israeli women, according to Maddis. For Maddis — who speaks fluent Hebrew and grew up in a Labor Zionist family, attending Valley Beth Shalom Synagogue and graduating from Los Angeles Hebrew High School — this was a mission of passion merging her love of Israel with her life’s work in pursuing social justice for disenfranchised populations. “It was very validating to see them using some of the approaches we’ve been taking here, including using harm reduction approaches in their outreach,” Maddis said. “It was interesting to see that they are dealing with many of the same problems we have here with maintaining low cost, affordable housing,” she added. “They also have issues dealing with a very diverse population, which is not uncommon to what we face here. “I think we can learn a lot from one another and I look forward to working with them again and continue our relationship.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/032707-01_01.jpg) WORLDWIDE PROBLEM: (above) A homeless woman and child, left, beg for change in a bustling Tel Aviv marketplace. (Photo: Photo courtesy) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/032707-01_02.jpg) WORLDWIDE PROBLEM: (above) A homeless woman and child, left, beg for change in a bustling Tel Aviv marketplace. (Photo: Photo courtesy) *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 27, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/032707.pdf?ref=smdp.com)