"Our Partnership, today, is stronger than ever," said Bill to a group of Community Builders during his visit.

Bill Heller, Partnership 2000 Co-chair from Cleveland spent a three day visit in the Beit Shean Region together with Oren Baratz, Director of the Overseas Department at the Federation in Cleveland. Bill became the Partnership Co-chair one year ago and although he visited the region quite a few times, this was the first time he arrived for a number of days in order to learn about the region and to understand the different projects closely.

One of the highlights of the visit was a meeting with the new Israeli Steering Committee. Different from the past, the Israeli Committee includes volunteer public figures. The Mayors acknowledged the fact that the Partnership has reached the stage in which the chairmanship can be transferred to a lay leader. Many of the Israeli Steering Committee members are Community Builder graduates.

"We want to hear how we in Beit Shean can help you in Cleveland," said the Committee members to Bill. "Until now, we were used to accepting from the act of giving and we were satisfied knowing that the Beit Shean Region is our home in Israel." "Your saying warms the heart," said Bill. "We'll have to think how we can begin receiving from you and consider new ideas that came up, such as: camp counselors from the region to summer camps in Cleveland, having a summer camp in the Region for children from Cleveland, and many more."

A large part of the visit included visiting different schools in the city and region. Partnership 2000's next top program will assist children and youth at risk through mentors who will work with small groups of children from the city and region. The mentors will help these children reach their potential while being their agents and connecting them to the different systems in the Municipality. The program "Youth Futures" will begin at the beginning of next year's school year. During the upcoming months, learning about the needs, mapping and a detailed plan will take place.