History​

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Founder of the home, Devorah Shick - a Prague-born, Holocaust survivor -  bore the despair, pain and love that  parents of handicapped children experience as a mother of her own retarded child. Following her son’s death, Devorah devoted her life to studying therapeutic pedagogy in anthroposophic institutes throughout Europe. In 1969 she opened Beit Uri, a private remedial home for the severely challenged - in the memory of her son Uri.

Devorah was the recipient of the Prime Minister’s Award for Protector of Children’s Rights, 1999, for her lifetime’s commitment to building a home for the special needs community. The home's residents also received the 2001 Minister of Environment Award  for outstanding work in caring for the surrounding park and forest.

 

Following her death in November 2002 at the age of 94, Devorah was posthumously awarded the Zusman-JDC prize for excellence in services for the handicapped, by the President of the State of Israel. In 2009 the award from the Council of Beautiful Israel was given and in the following year Beit Uri was recognized by the City of Afula for taking care of its contribution to the city and its surroundings.