Two days after October 7, Esther – a retiree from Kiryat Shmona on Israel’s volatile northern border – only had time to pack a few necessities before being evacuated to Jerusalem, 120 miles away. Her daughter was evacuated to a different city, leaving Esther stuck in a random isolated hotel room in an unfamiliar city, without her usual support system.
As she has multiple chronic health conditions, Esther tried to schedule a doctor appointment herself, but when she called a branch of her health clinic in Jerusalem, the appointment she received was several months off. Had she been at home, she would have known who to speak to in her local clinic to get an earlier appointment, but in Jerusalem she felt at a loss. She worried that the delay in therapy would slow her recovery. Fortunately, a JDC community caseworker, stationed at her hotel to assist the evacuees, knew how to go navigate the right channels to enable Esther to receive the care she needed in a timely manner. Without this help – Esther could have suffered a major health setback.