We are the St. Joseph Family!
The SJF story
The St. Joseph Family began in 1985 with the founding of St. Joseph's Home for Boys in Port-au-Prince. For approximately 30 years, St. Joseph’s Home for Boys was a home for disadvantaged youth, former street children and former child slaves. It provided them with an education, a family and an abundance of love and support. Through programs at St. Joseph’s Home for Boys, the children learned life skills and also had the opportunity to participate in dance and art classes. Both leadership development and religious formation were at the heart of the St. Joseph’s Home mission. The earthquake of 2010 destroyed the original St. Joseph's Home, but with the support of generous donors, a beautiful new facility was built and dedicated just two years later.
As the children of St. Joseph's Home matured into adulthood they took on leadership roles with the St. Joseph Family and in the past few years the work has evolved from a residence for boys to community outreach. St. Joseph's Home for Boys has taken on a new life as the SJ Community Outreach Center. It now hosts many community activities. The former art center now hosts a local community-run and operated school and vocational school, while the public rooms serve as venues for community church services, choir practice, dance classes, art classes, leadership training, recreation, meetings and much more. While these are all independent projects, and the St. Joseph Family does not economically support or manage any of them, the SJ Community Outreach Center does open its doors to its neighbors to provide a safe and beautiful place for people to gather to enrich their lives and build community.
In November 1994, their strong sense of family and service led the St. Joseph Family to take on a large challenge — to care for 14 severely mentally and physically challenged children. The children, abandoned by their families because of their handicaps, were previously being cared for by a group from France. That group wanted to leave Haiti, but had found no one to take the children. When word came to those at the St. Joseph's Home about this dilemma they decided they would take in one of the children. When members of the family visited the home, they saw children who spent their entire day in bed with minimal care and no compassion. What they saw shocked them and how the children were described by the woman who ran the house as “living pieces of furniture” cemented in them the desire to give the disabled children the sense of family they enjoyed. Because St. Joseph’s Home for Boys existed purely on donations that came in every week, taking on the responsibility for so many severely handicapped children was an enormous challenge. But, the family was committed to the idea. After much prayer and discussion the family took a leap of faith and took over responsibility for all of the handicapped children and Wings of Hope was born.
Wings of Hope is now home to more than 30 children and adults with physical and mental challenges, both boys and girls. Several graduates of the St. Joseph Family program are part of the staff at Wings of Hope. The residents of Wings of Hope will never “graduate” from the program and will be cared for by the family for the rest of their lives. The former Wings of Hope building in Fermathe, in the mountains above Port-au-Prince, was destroyed in the 2010 earthquake. With the generosity of many donors, a new, fully handicap-accessible and beautiful facility was built in Jacmel and the Wings of Hope residents moved there in the fall of 2015. The new facility not only contains living spaces, but also classrooms, physical and occupational therapy areas, recreation areas and beautiful gardens.
With the support of many friends Wings of Hope has evolved from simply a facility to house those with handicaps to a home and family that provides education, therapy and lots of opportunities for growth and fun to the residents. The motto of Wings of Hope is "Possibilities, not disabilities!".
Lekòl Sen Trinite is a tuition-free school for the poorest children in Jacmel. Lekòl Sen Trinite is on the second and third floors of the building that also houses the Wings of Hope Welcome Center in Jacmel. Lekòl Sen Trinite serves approximately 220 students, preschool through ninth grade. Classes go beyond simply academics with programs in art, dance and music. Besides receiving an education, the students are also fed every school day. After school programs include tutoring, karate, and a cooking class. Programs for the parents of the students, to help them out of extreme poverty and enrich their lives, are also offered.
As the children of St. Joseph's Home matured into adulthood they took on leadership roles with the St. Joseph Family and in the past few years the work has evolved from a residence for boys to community outreach. St. Joseph's Home for Boys has taken on a new life as the SJ Community Outreach Center. It now hosts many community activities. The former art center now hosts a local community-run and operated school and vocational school, while the public rooms serve as venues for community church services, choir practice, dance classes, art classes, leadership training, recreation, meetings and much more. While these are all independent projects, and the St. Joseph Family does not economically support or manage any of them, the SJ Community Outreach Center does open its doors to its neighbors to provide a safe and beautiful place for people to gather to enrich their lives and build community.
In November 1994, their strong sense of family and service led the St. Joseph Family to take on a large challenge — to care for 14 severely mentally and physically challenged children. The children, abandoned by their families because of their handicaps, were previously being cared for by a group from France. That group wanted to leave Haiti, but had found no one to take the children. When word came to those at the St. Joseph's Home about this dilemma they decided they would take in one of the children. When members of the family visited the home, they saw children who spent their entire day in bed with minimal care and no compassion. What they saw shocked them and how the children were described by the woman who ran the house as “living pieces of furniture” cemented in them the desire to give the disabled children the sense of family they enjoyed. Because St. Joseph’s Home for Boys existed purely on donations that came in every week, taking on the responsibility for so many severely handicapped children was an enormous challenge. But, the family was committed to the idea. After much prayer and discussion the family took a leap of faith and took over responsibility for all of the handicapped children and Wings of Hope was born.
Wings of Hope is now home to more than 30 children and adults with physical and mental challenges, both boys and girls. Several graduates of the St. Joseph Family program are part of the staff at Wings of Hope. The residents of Wings of Hope will never “graduate” from the program and will be cared for by the family for the rest of their lives. The former Wings of Hope building in Fermathe, in the mountains above Port-au-Prince, was destroyed in the 2010 earthquake. With the generosity of many donors, a new, fully handicap-accessible and beautiful facility was built in Jacmel and the Wings of Hope residents moved there in the fall of 2015. The new facility not only contains living spaces, but also classrooms, physical and occupational therapy areas, recreation areas and beautiful gardens.
With the support of many friends Wings of Hope has evolved from simply a facility to house those with handicaps to a home and family that provides education, therapy and lots of opportunities for growth and fun to the residents. The motto of Wings of Hope is "Possibilities, not disabilities!".
Lekòl Sen Trinite is a tuition-free school for the poorest children in Jacmel. Lekòl Sen Trinite is on the second and third floors of the building that also houses the Wings of Hope Welcome Center in Jacmel. Lekòl Sen Trinite serves approximately 220 students, preschool through ninth grade. Classes go beyond simply academics with programs in art, dance and music. Besides receiving an education, the students are also fed every school day. After school programs include tutoring, karate, and a cooking class. Programs for the parents of the students, to help them out of extreme poverty and enrich their lives, are also offered.
SJF Leadership
Luckner "Maya" Fond-Rose
President SJF Board Mission Advancement |
Jacky Asse
Vice President SJF Board Director Wings of Hope |
Daniel Jn Mary
|
Bill Nathan
Director SJ Community Outreach Center Director SJ Welcome Center |
Walnes Cangas
Treasurer, SJF Assistant Director SJ COC Assistant Director SJ Welcome Center |
Renee Dietrich
Secretary SJF Board Communications & Development |
