The Housing Rehabilitation Program at the CSC continues its efforts to help realize the right to adequate housing for families living in extremely difficult conditions. This is done in partnership with local communities, within the limits of available resources. “Unfortunately, this makes the waiting list long, limiting our ability to respond to the most severe cases,” said Osama Bani Odeh, Program Coordinator at the Center, which is affiliated with An-Najah National University.
The Center’s current efforts are focused mainly on families in rural areas, supported by a grant from the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) through the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development.
The case of the N.M. family, who live in a village east of Nablus, is an example of the program’s success in maximizing limited financial resources and multiplying their impact through volunteer efforts and community contributions. In partnership with local organizations, the program built an
additional room to relieve the family’s overcrowded living situation, as they had previously lived in a single room. Modifications were also made to the outdoor bathroom and kitchen to make them more hygienic and better connected to the rest of the house.
The head of the family, a widow, said that the improvements had transformed her home—small though they might seem to those with better living conditions. She expressed her gratitude to the Center and its staff for renovating the house with care, respecting her dignity, and consulting her before implementing any changes.
Engineer Bani Odeh explained that the program’s work consists of two complementary parts: the technical engineering aspect and the social aspect. For this reason, the team includes an engineer, a female engineer, a social worker, and a social specialist who collaborate to prepare the preliminary report and design the required intervention. In this case, a joint technical and social report was prepared, which led to the decision to allocate the minimum possible contribution from the grant toward rehabilitating the house. Because that amount was not sufficient, the team secured additional in-kind assistance from the local community and financial support from the Multaqa Al-Khair Fund, one of the Center’s programs.
Mr. Bilal Salama, the Center’s Director, noted that this case and the approach used to address it reflect the Center’s philosophy of working with those in need rather than on their behalf. This embodies a human rights-based model of social work grounded in participation and empowerment, emphasizing collaboration with the community as the foundation of effective service.
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