Welcome to Jesse's Children of Western New York

…A Dominican Republic Ministry

Jesse’s Children is an ecumenical mission that provides health, education, and economic opportunity to the impoverished people of the Dominican Republic.

All expenditures are the responsibility of the volunteers. There are no clerical expenses so that 100% of our effort is directed to the welfare of the people.

Jesse’s Children began in 1988 as an outreach program of the Episcopal Diocese of Southwest Florida through the efforts of Dr. Jim and Mrs. Pat McIlwain in cooperation with The Episcopal Bishop of Santo Domingo and the Roman Catholic Bishop of Bani.

In 1990, Dr. Bill and Mrs. Dawn Maher joined this mission and initiated a second effort out of Western New York. Their efforts drew volunteers from all over the United States.
This mission has expanded to provide:

• Dental, Medical, Optometric Care
• Construction projects:
• Nutrition Center
• Dental Clinic
• Medical Clinic
• Homes for the needy
• Education in free enterprise
• Clean Water well programs
• Air Lifts of Medical, Hospital, Dental and educational materials
• Economic Opportunity through Microlending.

The ministry has grown to include a broad ecumenical base of health care, educational professionals and lay volunteers to contribute their time and talent to heal, build, educate the people in some of the poorest barrios, mountain enclaves and bateys in the Dominican Republic.
Jesse’s Children depends soley on God’s graces. We have no major source of funding. We achieve financial support through donations from church groups, individuals, and periodically conduct a fund raiser to support our monetary needs.

Our next fundraising auction is scheduled for Friday, October 2, 2009.

End of Year Report for 2008

Report - Year End 2008

During 2008 we had a total of four mission groups that traveled to the Dominican Republic. Hilbert College had a group from their SIFE club travel down for their second trip in January. They built two homes for families that became homeless during the hurricane of November 2007. They also provided business support to local entrepreneurs, taught a 4th grade class, replanted a garden at the Nutrition Center. These are energetic and capable young people. We have enjoyed working with them. January also brought a dental mission. In March there was a group of dental students who volunteered for a week as well as an optometric mission for another week.
We were able to see the second floor of the Nutrition Center, as the construction was completed. The end result is amazing. There are now twice as many malnourished children being helped because of this project.
In January we met the first group of women (10 total) who formed our first microlending project. These women met for 6 months prior to receiving their $100 loan to start a small business within the barrio where they live. These businesses are modest, but enable these women to provide food and education for their children. We are looking forward to expanding this project in 2009, as we realize that this changes people’s lives forever.
The airlift of donated supplies was sent to the Dominican Republic in the spring. These were supplies that were collected for the victims of the November hurricane. They were much appreciated. This project was completed with the help of endless volunteers, the Niagara Falls Air Reserve, and the Asbury Shalom Zone. Thanks to all who helped with this great success.
Antonio, one of our translators is doing well in school studying tourism, and continues to receive support for his education. He gets all As and Bs. We are very proud of him, and look forward to his much brighter future in the Dominican Republic.
Every year as I write this report, I am also packing for our next trip. We will be in the Dominican Republic from January 11-23. The first week will be with Hilbert College, the second week is for optometry. We appreciate all the support both financially and spiritually that we receive from our church. Please keep us in your prayers. We look forward to sharing our experiences with you upon our return.

Respectfully submitted,
Dawn Maher

End of Year Report for 2007

The year 2007 brought a lot of change to Jesse’s Children. In January we traveled down to provide both dental and optical services for the poor in the outlaying areas of Bani. In March both Bill and I traveled back with a group of students from Hilbert College. They provided small business support for local entrepreneurs, taught a 4th grade class, worked on importing goods for artisans located in the mountains, replanted the garden at the Nutrition Center and installed an irrigation system. Later that month Drs. Kevin and Beth D’Angelo brought a group of dental students down to provide yet another four days of dental operativos.
With grant money that has been gifted to Jesse’s Children, we supplied the needed funds to build a second floor to the Nutrition Center. Sr. Catherine runs this center for malnourished children in the barrio of La Saona, just outside of Bani. The construction took place over the summer. We are all anxious to see the results of Sr. Catherine’s “dream project”.
After these last trips we became interested in micro lending. These are very small loans given to very poor women to start modest businesses. These businesses enable the women to feed, educate, and provide needed medical care for their children. During the summer months we received enough donations specifically for the micro lending to fund the first “Mother’s Club”. Sr. Roberta visited us during the summer and agreed to work with the women for at least 6 months in order to prepare them for the loans. We were to have distributed the money in November during an Optical trip. Unfortunately a tropical storm passed over the island and left over 2 feet of rain. The flooding that resulted made our Optical trip impossible. We have rescheduled that trip for February 2008, and were able to send the money so the women could start their businesses prior to Christmas.
The flooding caused such destruction that we decided the best thing we could do from Buffalo was to start an airlift of needed supplies. With the help of our church and many other local churches and schools, we were able to collect enough needed supplies to fill a C-130 cargo plane. At this time we are finalizing the inventory with the Niagara Falls Air force Base and hope to have it sent very soon.
One of our long time Dominican interpreters was in a motorcycle accident early this year. Many of our volunteers that have known Rafael throughout the past several years donated money to help cover the medical expense for the extensive surgery needed to save his leg. Another one of our interpreters, Antonio, expressed a desire to go to college. This brought additional donations that were designated for that purpose. Antonio is very bright young man, he taught himself English and is in school for tourism at this time.
We are at this time packing to travel back to the Dominican. We will be there from January 6-20. We appreciate all the support we get from our church, and ask that you keep us in your prayers.

Respectfully submitted,
Dawn Maher

End of Year Report for 2006

Report - Year End 2006

Our health mission continues to grow. The first health mission trip was January 17-22 with a team of 17 volunteers. We were able to provide dental extractions, fillings, flouride treatments and sealant for children as well as eye exams and provide glasses for the needy. We treated patients in a local barrio (poor city neighborhood), a campo (farming community) and a Haitian Batay (migrant camp). Our construction volunteers prepared an area for a garden at Sr. Catherine’s nutrition center, which will eventually produce food for the children. With recent donations and grant money we were able to purchase needed dental supplies and a larger compressor that runs the dental headpieces more efficiently.
Drs. Kevin and Beth D’Angelo led a team in March that consisted of 19 volunteers. The group had dental students from Michigan State participating with them. They also had a Veterinarian that was able to treat many sick farm animals.
With the help of a group of pediatricians from Boston Mass. we were able to help set up a foundation that will enable the sisters’ lifelong projects to continue after they retire. Sr.Catherine and Peggy have both been in the Dominican Republic for approx. 30 years. When they retire they will need to relocate St. Roberta. They will not leave her there alone. The three of them are from Canada. We have been fortunate to have some volunteers that were able to procure grant money from their places of employment. We hope to use this in the future to help fund the foundation. A stipulation for the grant we received was to pay Sr. Barbara Toland $3,000.00 to cover Kathleen (from Boston) expenses while she is in the Dominican Republic setting up the workings of the foundation.
With the help of Krista VanWagner and Anne Garbarino we sponsored a raffle to raise money for the Nutrition Center. We were able to raise $2,271.00 from the raffle.
Every year when I prepare the year-end statement, I am also preparing for the next trip, which is on Jan. 23-28. This year I am one of 19 volunteers. Please keep us in your prayers. Thank you for all your support throughout the year it is truly appreciated.

Respectfully submitted,
Dawn Maher

End of Year Report for 2005

Our health mission is still going strong. Our first trip down was January 18-22 consisted of 25 volunteers. We were able to have a dental group that provided extractions, fillings, flouride treatments and sealants (for the children). Having a group this large we were able to go to 2 barrios, 1 batey (Haitian Migrant Camp) and the local prison. We also were fortunate enough to have a construction group that built a beautiful playground at Sr. Catherine’s’ Nutrition Center. With grant money we received we were able to purchase outside play equipment as well as educational toys for the Center. We funded a trained pre-school teacher from the capital for 1 year. She will be able to teach the regular staff how to stimulate the busy young children there. While in country we purchased a large diesel generator, which we will take out into the field for our med/dent clinics. With this new generator we are able keep up with our sterilizers, drills, compressors and headlamps much better than before. We also funded a program to educate street children in the Bani area.
Drs. Kevin and Beth D’Angelo went down in March with 20 people. Some of these were from the Buffalo area and there was a dentist from Michigan along with some dental students from Michigan State University. They also worked in local barrios and bateys. They had a very successful busy trip.
In July we finally saw our airlift take off. With the help of Cook’s Moving we were able to get all the gear out of Asbury Shalom Zone building from the west side of Buffalo to Niagara Falls Air Force Base at no cost. They were just terrific! The supplies that were collected over the past several years ended up filling three large cargo planes. The much needed hospital, dental, optometry equipment and supplies along with educational materials were distributed throughout the country by Srs. Catherine, Peggy and Roberta. They were fortunate enough to also get some great volunteers to help.
We are now gearing up for our trip January 17-22. The trip will have 18 volunteers mostly from the Buffalo area. We look forward to sharing our experiences with you upon our return. As always we appreciate your prayers and support through out the year.

Respectfully submitted,
Bill and Dawn Maher