Jerusalem Children and Community Development Organization (JeCCDO) was established as Jerusalem Association Children’s Homes (JACH) in 1985 as an indigenous, non-governmental, humanitarian organization, in response to the needs of children who were left orphaned, displaced or lacked proper care and support due to civil war and drought.
JACH initial intervention began by establishing children’s Homes- orphanages in different parts of the country in order to address the physical and psychological needs of abandoned children. The first home to be established was the Addis Alem Children’s Home in 1985. The second one was the one established in the town of Debre Berhan, during the same year. This was followed by the opening of the Repi and Mendefera in (Eritrea) Children’s Homes in 1986 and 1987, respectively. The last one was the Blue Nile Children’s Home and Training Center in Bahir Dar town which was established in 1988, primarily to serve as an agricultural training center for all of the grown-up children from the rest of the Homes.
In all of the children's Homes, JACH focused on meeting the basic needs of the children, such as education, health services, clothing, counseling, etc. At the beginning of the program, most of the children who joined the children’s homes were sick and malnourished and were suffering from the trauma of the sudden loss of parents. Hence, the first services focused on saving lives and rehabilitation of the children. Subsequently, vocational training aimed at helping the children to become self-supporting and independent citizens was integrated into the program. A total of 876 children have received care and support services until 2001.
In 1995, JACH conducted an assessment on the institutional child care program. The results of the assessment have identified that though the institutional childcare program has contributed greatly to saving the lives of a large number of orphan children, it has also its negative impacts on the future lives of the children. Therefore, it was recommended that integrating these children into the social system through a deinstitutionalization program could serve as a better alternative approach in meeting their needs and interests. The study has also drawn experiences from other countries and organizations on the problems and impacts of institutional child care. Therefore, the need for designing a modality on implementing the deinstitutionalization program led into the development of the first strategic plan. While working on the gradual phase out of the institutional child care program, the organization has also been involving itself in community development oriented programs with special focus on children, women and youth.
This shift in approach was marked by the commencement of the Integrated Urban Community Development Program (IUCDP) in 1997, in Kebele 12 of Bahir Dar town and replicated to other towns.
As a learning organization, JeCCDO continues to build on its experience and entered into its third phase which solely focuses on building the capacity of community based organizations that enable the grassroots development oriented programs to take care of OVC and actively involve in the development process of their communities. We believe the third approach addresses Ethiopian children problem best.
The year 2000 is a momentous era in the organization’s history that it changed its name to Jerusalem Children and Community Development Organization (JeCCDO) which better explains the current strategic direction.
Currently, JeCCDO is reestablished as Ethiopian resident charity and operates in five Community Development Program Offices (CDPOs) situated in Bahir Dar and Debre Berhan (Amhara Regional State), Debre Zeit (Oromia Regional State), Hawassa (Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Regional State) and Dire Dawa Administrative Council. It is also working with over 35 Community Based Organizations located in Addis Ababa, Wolkite, Endibir, Butajira, Dire Dawa, Debre Birhan Bahir Dar, Debre Zeit, Adjie, Shashemene, Lay Gaint, Awra Amba, Jimma, Adama, and Hawassa towns through sub-grantee arrangements.
In a year time we reach about 850,000 beneficiaries directory or indirectly. Even so, we work for a wider coverage.