Zara Newman created a hub to support and provide community to frum women with special needs who've aged out of education programs.
I run the post-16 seminary and college division of Aim Habonim, a special needs school in Manchester, England. Our program services frum young women, ages 18 to 25 — but at 25, our students transition from Education into Social Care. And then what?
We couldn’t just say, “Bye, it’s been lovely, have a nice life!” and so we asked ourselves, What next? The answer? A charity for differently abled young women, called BC Community. We envisioned a hub that offers further independent living skills, support, learning, vocational training, and general support services to enhance members’ life opportunities.
Together with Yehudis Stern, who has been involved in education for 30 years, that’s just what we created. We want to create a meaningful future and sense of belonging for our members with different abilities in a culturally appropriate environment that helps our members transform potential into success. We promote independence for our members and we offer them support services, advocacy, training, and — most important — employment.
We run training courses, such as Computers and Culinary Skills, all to support independence, improve the women’s skill sets, and widen their future opportunities.
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