HEARTFELT - Yeshiva Darchei Torah Pre-Dinner Newsletter 2018 DarcheiNewsletter2018HighResSinglePages | Page 21

These projects have revitalized the neighborhood and have created a domino effect, encouraging scores of Yeshiva-affiliated families to purchase their own homes and move into the area. But Rav Bender hoped to attract more frum families to the area, and began by building 12 houses for yeshiva families in 1999. Five years later, eight more houses were constructed, and 16 more followed in 2010. The Yeshiva also bought a small apartment building in 2007 to be used for kollel housing. These projects have revitalized the neighborhood and have created a domino effect, encouraging scores of Yeshiva-affiliated families to purchase their own homes and move into the area. Today, the neighborhood has been completely transformed, with an estimated 200 frum families living near the Yeshiva. The Yeshiva is a hub of activity throughout the year. In the summertime, the campus is the site of Simcha Day Camp, a program that serves hundreds of children from the local community and beyond. Machaneh HaKayitz, another community day camp, opened in 2009. (A few years ago, the Yeshiva acquired a property in upstate Sullivan County for Camp Oraysa, an overnight program for its Mesivta and Beis Medrash students.) January 14, 2018 21 ‫תשע“ח‬ ‫טבת‬ ‫לכ“ח‬ ‫אור‬