On the long trip it took me to get here today, I had the opportunity to think back and remember who I was then and where I am today,” so stated one of the shelter’s former residents. Returning to Bat Melech for our traditional Chanuka party for women who left the shelters celebrated in Nechalim, she described, in short, the tough road she walked until her current life of freedom and accomplishment.

The celebration in Nechalim has long ago become a beautiful tradition with a tremendous positive impact for the women who stopped for a moment in their busy life and returned to Bat Melech to share a warm and loving hug with their sisters currently still in the shelter. They dropped everything and returned here for some more attention, care and sweet pampering. A bit of quiet escape from the many challenges in their current, new and busy lives.

One-hundred-and-fifty former Bat Melech residents, who have embarked on an independent and rewarding life participated in the wonderful celebration choreographed and produced by the amazing women of Nechalim.

The Nechalim women volunteers began the morning with a sumptuous breakfast in the idyllic settings of the Markovitz dairy farm and onto a morning of diverse activities – cosmetics done by professionals, reflexology, hair styling, manicure and much more.

The day’s crowning jewel was the lecture delivered by the Paralympic gymnast, Pascale Berkovitch. Her lecture mesmerized and touched the women with her moving life story.  She related all the hurdles she had to overcome, the strength she found in them and the decisions she made to set aside the life she was born into and create a different reality of normalcy, achievement, and success.

TheBat Melech women came away much strengthened from all the attention showered on them by the wonderful volunteers, capped by Pascale’s dramatic story.