Schusterman opens child abuse treatment center at Sheba

Lynn Schusterman's latest philanthropy project is rooted in an experience she had as newlywed. "I first got involved in the whole issue of child abuse when was 23 years old, when volunteered with the National Council of Jewish Women in Tulsa," Schusterman told Haaretz Anglo File in Jerusalem this week. "I worked in police shelter, where children had to be taken out of their homes immediately because they were really badly abused. Bodies were covered with cigarette burns, arms were broken. vowed then that when we were financially able do something, I'd get involved in [treating] child abuse.

"Almost fifty years and many millions of dollars later, Schusterman an illustrious philanthropist is still committed to supporting abuse victims, although she told Anglo File that personally she is more involved with college-age Diaspora Jews because that doesn't require her to be a social worker or pediatrician.

On Tuesday, she opened the new shelter for abused Israeli children at Sheba/Tel Hashomer hospital in Tel Aviv, which is modeled after "one-stop shopping" child abuse networks in the U.S., as the Tulsa, Oklahoma-based Schusterman calls it. Usually, molested children have to tell their story over and over first to the police, then to host of municipal workers, psychologists and social workers which doctors found to exacerbate their trauma. In the new "Beit Lynn, "however, the child finds all these agencies under one roof.

The next day, Schusterman -- who recently celebrated her 70th birthday -- attended ceremony during which the health ministry's director-general certified 18 doctors to be able to testify in court, treat children and teach other pediatricians how to recognize and treat child abuse, "and hopefully start educating teachers about recognizing signs of child abuse," she said. The doctors will work at the Haruv Institute in Jerusalem, which the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Foundation established in 2007.

Schusterman, whose late husband Charles made fortune in the oil and gas business, and ranks 601 on Forbes' 2009 list of the world's billionaires, says she lost more money during the current economic crisis than she thought she previously had, but she does not intend to stop -- or even curtail -- giving money to worthy causes. "While other foundations need to scale back, I've made an active decision that to the best of my ability, at least for the next three years, am going to scale back certain living conditions but continue to give at the same level that I've been giving."

Though her aim is to teach the next generation that "being Jewish is cool" Through programs such as Birthright and Hillel, she reaffirmed her commitment to financially support her other projects and even expand them. "Luckily," she said, "I wasn't affected by the Madoff scandal. I jokingly say that I wasn't important enough for him. I don't have a house in Palm Beach – my second home is Jerusalem."