“At KeepOlim, we are changing and saving lives every day!”
– LiAmi Lawrence, Executive Director & Co-Founder of KeepOlim
KeepOlim is a post-aliyah non-profit organization for all Olim (new immigrants to Israel and returning citizens). We provide vital programs, services, advocacy, and support to Olim from over 100 countries around the world. KeepOlim (RA 580613610) is a registered non-profit organization, authorized by the Israeli Corporations Authority and the Ministry of Justice.
What started out as a Facebook group called “Keep Olim in Israel Movement,” has now grown into a flourishing community of over 45,000+ Olim from all different backgrounds and over 100 countries.
We have one simple goal – to keep our Olim in Israel!
KeepOlim’s purpose is to empower Olim by giving them mental health services in their native language, as well as feeding our struggling Olim. We also have many other programs, services, and events in order to help Olim connect with others and form a lifelong community. With this support, many Olim will be able to overcome their struggles and stay in Israel.
Many Olim are crying out for help!
KeepOlim is here to answer their cries!
This is our Board member Susan Cohen providing our Bnei Menashe Olim community in Tiberias with food for Rosh Hashanah.
PLEASE DONATE!
KeepOlim is accomplishing what the government and no other organization has ever done before for ALL Olim! We are accomplishing miracles!
With no office, administrative support, secretaries, or grant writers, we truly are making the impossible happen! We are SAVING and CHANGING lives every day!
Help us continue to be a Lifeline for all Olim.
Our Programs:
Tikva by KeepOlim Mental Health Program
KeepOlim Feeds Olim
Lone Soldier Division
Bikur Cholim – Caring for the Sick
No Oleh Alone for the Holidays
Advocacy and Legal Support
Workshops and Resume Review
Social Events and Holiday Parties
KeepOlim giving food to our Bnei Menashe Olim community in Tiberias for Rosh Hashanah.
KeepOlim Coming to the Aid of Newly-Arrived Lone Soldiers during the Coronavirus Crisis
Words from our KeepOlim Family:
“Amazing Liami. I believe if you can change just one person’s life you’ve earned your place by G-d’s side. You and your team have done more than just help. Bless you.” -Rivka Jacobs
“Kol hakavod. Without you many olim would be in a bad place or worse. You created this group out of a deep frustration and its saved dozens and helped hundreds (if not more.) Kol hakavod to your team. Remember he who saves one life saves a world. You and the team must have saved a galaxy!” -Alex Patnick
“Let’s come together and help this great organization; our organization, which through supporting and advocating for Olim, is also playing a crucial part in building this country—our country! Love Jews, love the land, and love the Torah.” -Malka Levine
“All the help and support has been unbelievable. It gave us faith when we couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. Keep up the good work.” -Sarah Ward
Tikva, By KeepOlim – Mental Health Program
One of the cornerstones of KeepOlim is to provide ALL Olim with Free and Subsidized Mental Health Counseling in their native language.
Our program has over 50 dedicated and experienced therapists that speak over 15 languages and who understand the issues of Olim, as they are Olim themselves.
Sadly, more than ⅓ of all suicides in Israel are Olim – many of them Lone Soldiers. Mental health care for Olim in Israel is extremely limited and lacking. Olim are sometimes forced to wait for months to speak to a counselor in their native language through health insurance. Many times, there are no therapists that speak their language, and if they do, they don’t speak fluently enough to make therapy sessions impactful. Our professional therapists have answered hundreds of desperate calls per year from Olim in suicidal crises, providing immediate therapy, calling their families abroad, and accompanying them to hospitals if necessary.
In just a short time, Tikva has connected over 500+ struggling Olim and Lone Soldiers with one-on-one counseling. Our caring therapists are donating their precious time for this Chesed project, but we cannot continue to overwhelm them with free clients as they need to be paid something for their services in order to put food on their table.
In addition to our One-on-One Counseling, KeepOlim has run our Support Group Program to connect Olim together in a supportive group setting led by qualified therapists. During the Coronavirus crisis, KeepOlim organized 30 Free Support Groups via Zoom in a number of languages to help Olim in need.
KeepOlim will not deny therapy to anyone who needs counseling and cannot afford to pay for it.
In the past year alone, we have answered the calls of hundreds of desperate Olim in crisis.
With your help, our goal is to provide and expand our Free and Subsidized Mental Health Counseling in Olim’s native languages and help even more Olim in need!
Tikva Testimonials:
“Susan is one of the KeepOlim angels, I know that she makes a huge difference – Susan was there for me when I needed. Professional, approachable, available, and kind are some of the words that come to my mind.” -Anonymous
“I have no words to thank you. I can’t seem to find the right words to put here, but you should know how very much we appreciate that we could reach out to you. I don’t need to tell you what a stressful situation this is, and knowing that you are there for us is like finding a diamond. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.” -Anonymous, reached out to KeepOlim’s Suicide Crisis Hotline for her friend
“One very late night I realized that I would be on the streets the very next day. Panic and loneliness struck me badly and I’ve had the worst thoughts one can have. While shaking and crying I desperately went to Messenger and reach out someone I didn’t know at all. Within minutes I’ve 4 people with me online. One of them was this US guy (Liami) who actually calmed me down, made me laugh. They all made me feel safe. Next thing, I had Susan (Director of KeepOlim Mental Health Division) on the line, she gave me all psychological support I needed. That night they saved my life. The next day they found me a home. And forever they will be in my heart. Today I am back on my feet, have an amazing job and live in an amazing flat. I am healthy, happy and the future is better every day. This was just 6 weeks ago. Yalla, keep donating… and above all, trust me, G’d is with KeepOlim and with you.” -Anonymous
“Thank you for taking the time to set me up with mental health counseling in November. I’ve been working weekly with Jerry for the past few months, and it has made a world of difference in my life. For the first time in years I am making real progress on myself. The work that you and Keep Olim are doing is a mitzvah. Thanks again” -Anonymous
Susan Cohen – Director of Tikva
KeepOlim Advocating for Olim in the Knesset
KeepOlim’s Lone and Olim Soldier Program
KeepOlim provides support, assistance, and care to Lone & Olim Soldiers from all around the world who are serving in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). They are a special group of people who are dear to our hearts because they have come to Israel to protect our country and in doing so made many sacrifices, including leaving their families behind.
KeepOlim’s “Tikva by KeepOlim” Mental Health Program of dedicated volunteer Olim therapists, has provided over 170 Lone and Olim Soldiers with FREE one-on-one weekly sessions in their native languages as part of our FREE Mental Health Counseling to all Lone and Olim Soldiers before, during, and up to 3 years after their Army service.
We receive many calls from Lone & Olim Soldiers that are too scared to turn to the IDF’s chain of command. Because of this, there is a crisis of suicides and overdoses. By connecting directly with Lone and Olim Soldiers, KeepOlim’s confidential services have convinced desperate soldiers to turn in their guns to their commanders, which can potentially save their lives.
KeepOlim recognizes that this trend must be reversed, and our soldiers saved. Due to the overwhelming demand for our services, we need to expand our network of therapists.
WE NEED YOUR HELP!
KeepOlim Cares for Lone & Olim Soldiers – Our Heroes
LiAmi and Tzvika speaking to and inspiring Lone Soldiers of the NATIV Program
A Word from the Heroes We Helped:
“You saved me. I have never seen such care for me. Thank you again. I want to protect this country and make it better.” -Anonymous Lone Soldier
“A few months has passed and I am a different person completely! I couldn’t have even imagined that I’ll be on this level so fast! I no longer have depression and anxiety in levels that I cannot deal with, and all this in the course of just over 4 months! So thank you Keep Olim for being here for us! You are a great help and vital for the olim movement to exist and grow! You are all purely angels.”- Anonymous Lone Soldier
“Dear LiAmi and team at KeepOlim, I am writing to you this letter of appreciation for keeping keep olim an always ongoing help center for us olim and chayalim bodedim! I moved to Israel 3 years ago and drafted into the IDF. I really fell in love with our country and with our nation more and more and decided to stay here. I am never a person that asks for help, but with all that has been going on since I got released, it was just way too heavy and I needed to turn for help. LiAmi spoke with me for a bit and got to work right away. I immediately noticed that these are people that really care about the olim community and want us to do the best we can here. LiAmi connected me to Susan who was extremely helpful with finding me a great therapist in a short time.” -Anonymous, Lone Soldier
“Hi my brother. You really inspire me and are a constant reminder of hope and faith. You are someone I look to and admire. Always doing right by the people around you, the people you help, continue to help, have helped, and will help in the future. I am still talking to Ruchie, and she’s been an amazing therapist and wonderful to work with.” -Anonymous Lone Soldier
We at KeepOlim Take Matters into Our Own Hands. Pictured is LiAmi Lawrence, CEO, Protesting for Our Lone & Olim Soldiers
KeepOlim Feeds Olim
What started out as a side project of KeepOlim during the Coronavirus lockdowns – giving food to hungry Olim – has now expanded into one of our biggest programs, “KeepOlim Feeds Olim.” While the Coronavirus lockdown was a difficult time for all of us, it posed especially unique challenges for Olim.
During the High Holidays in August 2020, we fully launched “KeepOlim Feeds Olim” and gave out over 24,000 shekels of Rami Levi & Shufersal Gift Cards to Olim families and Lone Soldiers in need throughout Israel.
Incredibly, as of June 2022, we have distributed more than 200,000 shekels worth of food gift cards to over 485 struggling Olim and Lone Soldiers, so that they will have food on their tables.
After discovering a number of elderly homebound Russian and Ukrainian Olim in Bat Yam who had no food in their refrigerators, we created our “Babushka & Dedushka Program” where we personally shop for nine, sweet Russian and Ukranian grandparents and hand deliver the food to them with a smile once a month!
During the height of the pandemic, KeepOlim welcomed over 110 new Olim from the USA who were sent to a mandatory quarantine. KeepOlim eased their discomfort upon arrival by bringing them gourmet baskets of fresh fruit for Shabbat with the help of the IDF Pikud HaOref (Home Front Command).
100% of every dollar and shekel earmarked for this program goes to feeding our Olim!
Khrystyna, our director of the Babushka program, brightening the day with food and love of one of our elderly Olim.
KeeopOlim Feeds Olim Testimonials:
“Thank you Liami, to you, your partner, and Keep Olim in Israel. This gift left us blinded by tears and we are so grateful. We have been going through such challenging times and this is a huge help.” -Anonymous
“Hi LiAmi, I hope you are well. I’m recovering very well after open heart surgery and Tal and I want to thank you so much for the assistance your NGO helped us with. Since my surgery I’ve become a citizen of Israel and I will be able to access some of the benefits available as new Olah. Just can’t thank you enough for helping Olim like me to feel part of a network. When I’m fully recovered I would like to help where I can.” Regards and love, Sarah and Tal
“Dear LiAmi, I am overflowing with gratitude for the gift card to buy food I received yesterday from KeepOlim. After several months of struggling to make ends meet my finances hit a tipping point and I did not know how I was going to manage paying rent, bills, and buying food. Thank you for coming to the rescue! No one needs to worry about how they are going to feed their kids. I am SO beyond relieved that we are taken care of this week thanks to KeepOlim!” -Anonymous
“I need to Thank LiAmi Lawrence for helping me and my kids out with a food shop!! Truly grateful, without LiAmi and KeepOlim in Israel, we would of been in serious trouble!! Look forward to paying it forward & donating money to help a family like mine!!” -Andrea Newman
“As a former inmate to this [Coronavirus] hotel experience I can’t thank Liami enough for all he did. My fellow Olim are so thankful to enjoy some fresh fruit. The situation in this hotel is anything but welcoming but Liami went out of his way to help us. From the moment I first spoke with him he asked how he can help!!! He worked tirelessly to arrange this to put a smile on every face for Shabbos. Liami thank you for all you did and continue to do for Olim.” -Judy Freud
New Olim Stuck in Coronavirus Hotels Brought Fresh Fruit for Shabbat by KeepOlim
KeepOlim Needs Your Help!
“Thanks to you Liami and Tzvika, we can start to begin living here and not just surviving anymore.” -Margalith Roos
“You and your team are so inspiring and incredible really May Hashem blessed you for your amazing work. Pure chesed.” -Shoshana Simons
“You are the best Liami, Thank you for coming today. It was only a few minutes but to see you and Lucy made me happy. Only you is helping me here. Only you come on Sunday this holiday – and I really appreciate it. A big Bracha for you! Thanks to you I wasn’t alone yesterday on Pesach. I will always appreciate and always remember what you are doing.”- Anonymous, freshly arrived Oleh
TOGETHER WE ARE KEEPOLIM!
Young or Old, KeepOlim Cares for ALL Olim, like our Dear Babushkas!
For more information, please visit our website (Now in English, Russian, Spanish, and French): www.KeepOlim.org
KeepOlim (RA 580613610) is a registered non-profit organization, authorized by the Israeli Corporations Authority and the Ministry of Justice.