Moshe Stein
CEO and Leader with Vision Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Technology
Moshe Stein is the fierce leader of Perach. He launched it 20 years ago, when his hometown Mayor approached him with a burning problem: no one was willing to start a daycare for the growing number of special needs children in his fast-growing district.
Young Mr. Stein once worked for a supervisor of special education. He was all too familiar with the stigma associated with special needs children and the lack of available resources for them. He accepted it as a personal challenge and opened the first ever rehabilitative daycare in town.
The only facility immediately available was a small building that wasn’t connected to the power grid yet, so he opened the educational center and personally drove out to refuel the generator every 90 minutes, to ensure the children had light and heat in the winter.
Since then, Perach (flower in Hebrew) has blossomed under Moshe Stein’s leadership. Dozens of programs have opened, for all kinds of challenges and all ages. His motto remains the same as it was on day one: wherever children need solutions, Perach will do its best to offer excellent treatments and education. Moshe is always looking for solutions to ensure every child has all the equipment, support and therapy she needs to reach her potential.
Moshe Stein took the Perach vision to a team of architects to develop a long term plan that will meet the paramedical and educational needs of the community – for special needs and mainstream children, as they grow together, side by side.
[read more -hyperlink to “Building the Future”]
“Special Children are like diamonds who came to us straight from the sky. God and their parents have bestowed upon us the privilege to care for them and empower them to grow.”
Chanie Kisos
School Director Diversity and Inclusion
For Chanie the world of special needs is much more than a day job. It is part of her very essence. Her brother was born with severe health issues and the doctors did not give her parents much hope. Chanie’s parents refused to accept the grave prognosis. They worked with him every day and today he is a married man with children of his own!
Chanie began to volunteer with special needs children as a young girl. She became a teacher and naturally chose the path of special education. Today she is the principal of the Perach Giv’olim School in Elad. Chanie hand pickd the professional and educational staff at Giv’olim, where they specialize in autism, CP and intellectual disabilities.
Rachel Fuchsman, one of her star teachers, was recently awarded the prestigious Education Award by the Israel Ministry of Education.
Chanie has been known to host some of her students in her own home on weekends! When asked about it, she shrugs her shoulders and says that parents need a break. “My family loves it so much when I bring the kids home!”
“One of the things I love about this job is the mix of kids from different sectors of the Israeli society. I can sit at a parents’ meeting with the mosaic of Israeli culture. We all sit together in a circle. Some people are deeply religious, and others are totally secular or other minorities. They get along perfectly! It is rare for them to meet and mix in Israel, where different sectors typically live separately. But here at Perach, their beautiful kids unite them in a truly special way. Everyone simply gets along so well because they care about the kids.
“I also love it that together with our sister organization, Orchot Chinuch we have a built-in inclusion platform. The kids desperately need inclusion. Orchot Chinuch is our sister mainstream educational network. Our teachers and principals connect across the network and the kids really benefit from spending time together.
“All kids are special. Many need a lot of therapy and special equipment. Every moment of their day is used to help them grow healthier and stronger. Yet they are also just young children who need to play and socialize with all types of kids. The more children mix in play, the more they will each grow in every way.”
Shirley Blaier-Stein
Director of Research, Development and Resources
Shirley joined Perach following an eighteen years residency in the US, where she was an attorney, an author, a public speaker and an activist in the field of autism. Shirley wrote her first book, Autism Mom, after her son Dan was diagnosed with autism and she found herself in a new universe that she determined to research and understand.
Over the years Shirley helped thousands of special needs families find their path to empowerment through her parents organization and public presentations at schools, companies, and organizations. She was invited to speak at the United Nations twice.
“The first time I walked into Perach I felt at home. Moshe Stein and his Vice CEO Michael Dor are a perfect match for me. Just like me, they constantly worry about ways to improve the life of special needs children and their families.”
Shirley created the Perach Parents Academy. It offers lecture a series’ for special needs parents on topics relating to their child’s life and development. The academy aims to teach, enrich and empower parents.
The Perach study of hidden intellectual abilities of nonspeaking children with autism is another project Shirley is very busy with these days.
