Real Love at the “Red Carpet” Center in Israel
By Naomi Ammon, ICEJ Publications Assistant
From the moment the ICEJ team stepped across the threshold of the Red Carpet Center in Tel Aviv until they swept the day’s debris out the door, they served tirelessly—preparing food, folding clothes, painting nails, washing dishes, making tea, and distributing personal hygiene kits.
ICEJ began supporting the Red Carpet several years ago after founder Anat Brenner opened the center to offer practical help to unemployed and vulnerable women caught up in the rampant homelessness, drug abuse, and prostitution in southern Tel Aviv. The Red Carpet Center provides a welcome haven, offering nourishing meals, warm clothes, a place to rest, and access to medication.
A Place of Safety with a Personal Touch
What distinguishes the Red Carpet Center from other women’s shelters is its extraordinary attention to detail. The main room features a boutique-style clothing rack where volunteers act as “personal shoppers,” placing each woman’s chosen items into a shopping bag. Personalized shampoo and conditioner kits await each guest in the center’s showers.
“Get the raspberry one for Angelique,” Anat told a volunteer searching through the fridge for a beverage. “It’s her favorite—she likes sweet things.”
Such gestures, though small, exemplify the dignity and care this center provides. And that care extends far beyond conventional limits. It is not reserved for the religious, respectful, or drug-free. Some visitors come only to pick up food or toiletries. Others simply stop by for a warm drink and conversation.
Because the Red Carpet Center is also a refuge from violent men, the door is closely monitored. Every person who enters is screened through a surveillance camera. Yet food, empathy, and a listening ear are offered freely to anyone passing by.
Tenderness in Hard Places
For many, this kind of loving care is a rare and deeply meaningful expression of tenderness amid difficult circumstances—especially for women like Maia. Over tea and almond cake, Maia shared about her several children, all of whom are currently in government care. She does not have an apartment or reliable employment and is still recovering from a recent C-section. The Red Carpet Center provides her with a safe, clean place away from the streets where she can rest and regain strength. As she chatted about her baby boy and showed Anat his photos while blow-drying her hair, it became clear just how life-giving the center is for women like Maia.
Maia may not have all the opportunities she deserves, but the generous, consistent love and sacrifice provided by Anat and the team at the Red Carpet Center blesses vulnerable women like her while providing safe place to recover and rest, affirming their intrinsic value, and encouraging every woman to flourish.
Help us “roll out the red carpet” and restore dignity to more women in Israel.
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