As Israel’s only rehabilitation center for Arab prisoners, House of Grace continued its vital mission throughout 2025 despite extraordinary challenges. The ongoing regional conflict required constant adaptation: prison visits shifted to video conferencing, parole hearings faced delays, and employment opportunities for residents became increasingly scarce. Yet our commitment to transformation never wavered.
Throughout the year, we maintained 16 residents in our main hostel and 6 in transitional housing, with 17 new admissions and 15 successful program completions. The profile of those we serve has shifted significantly—68.5% now have violence-related offenses rather than addiction backgrounds, requiring specialized therapeutic approaches. Our team responded with enhanced violence prevention workshops, psychodrama therapy, and a new conflict resolution program.
A highlight of the year was our participation in the launch of the Presidential Pardons project organized by the Prisoner Rehabilitation Authority, which will help our residents expunge criminal records and rebuild their lives. In May, we were honored to host the Northern District facility managers meeting, bringing 35 treatment and rehabilitation facilities to House of Grace—a recognition of our leadership in the field.
Perhaps most meaningful was watching our residents participate in food distribution during Ramadan, Pesach, and Easter. Former prisoners who once received help now become givers, preparing and distributing packages to hundreds of families from all religious communities. This transformation from recipients to providers embodies everything our program strives to achieve.
A Story of Transformation:
Rabia’s Journey
Note: Names and identifying details have been changed to protect privacy.
Rabia is 34 years old. When he arrived at House of Grace in October 2024, he carried with him nineteen years of incarceration—and a lifetime of pain that began long before he ever saw the inside of a prison cell.
His childhood was marked by abuse and rejection. Growing up, Rabia searched desperately for belonging, for someone who would accept him. The streets seemed to offer what his home could not. “When I was young, I thought the streets were my family,” he shared during group therapy. “They weren’t. They used me, and I became someone I never wanted to be.”
As a young man, Rabia made a decision that would change everything: he enlisted in the military. In his community, this choice was seen as a betrayal. His family—the same family that had failed to protect him as a child—now boycotted him completely. The rejection was total and devastating.
Without support, without family, without the structure the military had briefly provided, Rabia fell back into the destructive patterns of his youth. At just 22 years old, he was convicted of murder and sentenced to nineteen years in prison.
Prison, unexpectedly, became a place of transformation. “I started reading, thinking, understanding why I made the choices I made,” Rabia explained. “The anger didn’t disappear, but I learned it didn’t have to control me.” Over nearly two decades behind bars, he began the slow, painful work of confronting who he had been and imagining who he might become.
When Rabia was released to House of Grace last October, he entered our nine-month intensive rehabilitation program. The transition from prison to our halfway house is never easy—the world has changed, old triggers remain, and the work of rebuilding a life can feel overwhelming. But Rabia has thrown himself into the process with remarkable dedication.
He attends every workshop. He has become a mentor to newer residents, sharing his experience and offering encouragement to those just beginning their journey. In our violence prevention groups, he speaks honestly about his past and the tools he’s developed to choose differently. In a recent session, he spoke about his growing faith: “I’m learning what it means to be forgiven. Not just by God, but to forgive myself. That’s the hardest part.”
After completing the intensive phase, Rabia will move to our transitional housing for an additional six months of supported independence. The road ahead remains long. But for the first time in his life, Rabia faces the future with hope.
“House of Grace gave me something I never had before,” he said recently. “A real family. People who believe I can be different. People who see me—not my crime, not my past, but me. That changes everything.”
