Jindas | Urban Regeneration

We invite you

to join an international success, taking its first steps in Israel, and creating an opportunity for a high quality of life in urban areas for the citizens of the State of Israel

Jindas: Jindas was established to promote social mobility through the use of physical and community urban regeneration processes, with an emphasis on Israel`s socio-geographic periphery. The organization initiates and leads inclusive, long-term rental housing projects, alongside an array of social services, based on a proven international model that creates cooperation between the public sector, the business sector and civil society.

About Us

Jindas (NGO) was founded in 2012 to promote social mobility, using physical and community-based urban regeneration processes across Israel`s socio-geographic periphery.

The inspiration for Jindas’ work model derives from a successful American model, which significantly improved the quality of life for residents by integrating innovative activities in the fields of housing; upgrading public spaces and the environment; and investing in education, health, art, culture and sports.

Jindas specializes in advanced urban and economic planning, with the participation of the local community, such that the needs of the residents are expressed in the plans and reflected in the architecture. Diverse and innovative financing tools are used in both the planning and implementation.

Avital Blonder:
Founder & CEO

Avital holds a BA in psychology and a Mandel Social Leadership MBA, both from Ben Gurion University; and is a graduate of the Maoz Fellows program. Avital established and managed the student branch of Pa’amonim, a non-profit to help families achieve financial stability and security; and founded the Derech Lod Young Community. Previously, Avital worked for the Moses Wolfowitz Foundation as part of the Lamerhav program, which addresses the needs of young Israeli adults lacking a family support network. She is active in the fields of urban regeneration, education, strengthening civil society, promoting equal rights and increasing social cohesion in various communities in Israel.

Richard D. Baron:
Senior Partner

Richard Baron is the founder and chairman of McCormack Baron Salazar, a real estate development company specializing in revitalizing neighborhoods and long-term rental projects across the U.S.. Richard is also chair of Urban Strategies, a non-profit organization that specializes in providing community social services in impoverished neighborhoods throughout the United States. The company was established in 1973 and works to develop and upgrade neighborhoods characterized by concentrated poverty, disadvantaged populations, and a dearth of business and public investments.
Over the years, Richard promoted federal legislation and financing, raising over four billion dollars in business investments, through which the company manages more than 40,000 housing units in nearly 50 neighborhoods throughout the United States, leading them to economic stability and social growth. The model pioneered by Richard more than 40 years ago fosters the integration of social housing investments with services and social-community structures, which leads to a dramatic increase in the quality of life and social mobility for the neighborhoods’ residents.
In October 2004, Richard won the prestigious J.C. Nichols Award for Visionaries in Urban Development, for his commitment to the highest standards of responsible community and real estate development. Richard is a graduate of Oberlin College, and holds a Master’s degree in Political Science from the University of California-Berkeley, and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Michigan. He received honorary degrees from Oberlin College and St. Louis University, and received the Medal of Achievement Award from the University of Pennsylvania – Penn Design.

Social Urban Regeneration

Jindas was established to enable social mobility for marginalized populations by implementing a model of physical and community-social urban regeneration. We believe that the best way to do so is by creating a variety of social and community groups and populations at different income levels in the same residential area, who will benefit from a quality mix of community services and social housing solutions.

Today, neighborhoods and cities in Israel are divided according to income. This phenomenon increases economic inequality, and deprives entire populations of access to adequate infrastructure in education, health, employment, culture and public spaces, to the detriment of the national resilience of Israeli society.

In order to engender change, we at Jindas believe that urban regeneration processes must combine architectural, economic and social planning, taking the residents’ needs into account. Through such planning, the model, which integrates social programs and economic feasibility, can be implemented.

We create these solutions, with a multi-sectored economic and operational partnership. The partners include the State of Israel, local government, civil society, philanthropic organizations, and the business sector. Jindas’ uniqueness is its ability to bring these partners from the various sectors to the table along with top tier professionals, thus enabling quality performance and long-term sustainability. Our model has been proven to be efficacious in a number of disparate countries around the world, led by the United States.

Implementing the Jindas model enables:

Leading urban regeneration processes emphasizing: building long-term rental housing units in old neighborhoods; developing public spaces, and public and community institutions
Encouraging physical and community regeneration processes that motivate the private developers to be involved in the real estate market in the oldest neighborhoods in Israel.
Promoting social mobility for disadvantaged populations and the option of living in the neighborhood for long periods after its development.
Creating attractive factors that draw middle and upper middle class populations to older neighborhoods.
Assisting and motivating leadership in the long-established local community.
Building trust and partnership among the various stakeholders.

We invite you to join an international success, taking its first steps in Israel to create an opportunity for a high quality of life in urban areas for the citizens of the State of Israel

The American Model

Jindas has partnered with the American company McCormack Baron Salazar, a leader in urban social regeneration in the United States, which has been successfully revitalizing American neighborhoods for the last 40 years. The company has built more than 30,000 housing units suitable for long-term rental; the entrepreneurial company’s unique quality is the social model it developed .

The model is based on the fact that the key to social mobility is a combination of middle to high income and disadvantaged populations in the same community. Recognizing that accessible, secure and stable housing is only one aspect of community renewal, the model entails the development and support of schools; access to quality health services, community and commercial centers; environmental stewardship; and perceiving the entire public space as essential for long-term neighborhood revitalization.