What would you do to honor your 30th wedding anniversary? The traditional gift is pearls, but for Yishai Broner, the answer was something different. Yishai’s wife Bluma has been on the SHALVA board since 2013, and he thought of the perfect gift. He surprised her by announcing the gift of a new housing fund for SHALVA clients at a recent board retreat. He knew from Bluma that housing is a critical unmet need for many abuse survivors.
Bluma was thrilled and shared, “As a SHALVA board member, we never know who comes to SHALVA, but I have learned that our clients have friends and family, but they are too ashamed to share what is happening to them and feel they can’t ask for housing help since it is such a big expense…SHALVA clients are trapped, they have nowhere to go. We hope this housing fund will be part of their way out, a light at the end of the tunnel.” Yishai agreed, adding “I hope that this will encourage others to give.”
Bluma stays involved because she knows that abuse can happen to anyone. “I want others to know that it is more than getting punched, more than physical abuse. People do not recognize it because they do not correlate it with control, they correlate it with physical abuse. Even if you may not need SHALVA, our community needs SHALVA.”
We are so very grateful to the Broners for their leadership gift. If you would like to help women with rent, furniture, moving expenses and more, visit https://shalvacares.org/take-action/donate/ and select the “housing fund” option.
