Since the war began, the Association has evacuated hundreds of people with disabilities and their families to safe and accessible sites.
Following is the story of Fanny and Shimon Brown, 97-year old Holocaust survivors, residents of Ashkelon.
Shimon suffers from pain in his limbs and has trouble walking. Fanny had two knee replacements.
They were evacuated by Access Israel’s “Purple Vest Mission”
The State of Israel woke up to an unimaginable reality on the morning of October 7th. As the scope of the horrors to unfurl, Access Israel’s “Purple Vest Mission” began Project stepped into action. The mission aims to evacuate people to safe and accessible sites. The Association opened an operations center for people in need of evacuation to call and recruited hundreds of volunteers to help with the mobilization process.
Since the war began, the Association has evacuated hundreds of people with disabilities and their families to safe and accessible sites. Following is the story of Fanny and Shimon Brown, 97 year old Holocaust survivors, residents of Ashkelon. Shimon suffers from pain in his limbs and has trouble walking. Fanny had two knee replacements. They were evacuated by Access Israel’s “Purple Vest Mission”.
The couple’s home was hit by a rocket twice. Their home suffered severe damage. All of the shutters, windows and doors were shattered and the stair lift collapsed – their house was in ruins. Their car was damaged (total loss). The entire house was filled with broken glass. When the rocket hit their home, Fanny was very anxious, waiting at the window and screaming for someone to rescue them. A patrol car drove by at 2:30 AM, helped them and evacuated them to a hotel, aided by the Ashkelon welfare department.
But the hotel was not at all suited to their needs. There was no accessible secure space and the shelter was about 30 seconds away from the room, preventing Shimon from getting to shelter in time.
A few days later, Fanny and Shimon appeared on Channel 12, where Rafi Reshef covered their story and put them in touch with Access Israel.
Access Israel relocated the couple to an accessible room at the Rothschild Hotel and provided them with several meals each day.
Fanny and Shimon have been at the hotel for over 40 days now, unable to return to their home, which is unfit and lacks an accessible secure space.
Fanny and Shimon wrote a letter of gratitude, thanking Michal Rimon, CEO of Access Israel
“Dear Michal, It is amazing to see that there are good people like you in our country; a woman who cares, who sees others and takes action to help where she can. It truly gives us hope and a bit of sanity in these insane times. We have no words to thank you for your help, dedication, empathy, sensitivity and understanding of the difficult situation that Shimon and I, and many others, are going through.
Accept our heartfelt thanks and appreciation.
May God bless you and may you continue spreading light and goodness around you”.