About Jessie's Place
Executive Director, Jessica Mc Call founded Jessie's Place, a non-profit organization in Venice, California in 1990, where it originally provided a sober living environment for people living in recovery. Jessie's Place also has provided community centers with outreach programs, advocacy for families and at-risk youths in the greater Los Angeles area, the Pico Union District and in the Venice area. Through the years, Jessie's Place has provided assistance to an orphanage and a community center in Mexico. Ms. McCall also went to Guatemala, where she assisted a mobile medical clinic. This year, Ms. McCall represented her organization in Kenya and in Rwanda. Seeing the widespread poverty and despair of Rwanda, the board of directors has decided to open a community center, which will be called, UBUMWE, in the town of Gisenyi. The organization will continue in its humanitarian efforts to help support the children of the Imbabazi orphanage in Gisenyi.

History of the Ubumwe Center
by Zachary Dusingizimana, Program Coordinator
Ubumwe means unity, working together, or togetherness in general. The idea of making this community center comes from the fact that there are many handicapped people in our country, a number that has increased greatly after the genocide.
Most of the handicapped people are dependent; they cannot do anything by themselves. They survive by begging. Some are lucky enough to have families that can help them barely survive, but most do not.
Frederick is one of the handicapped young men, he doesn't have his hands anymore but what he says that the worst thing is "is to be a head or a mind handicapped" he also says "that if you lose one part of your body it does not mean that you are paralyzed, you can still use the rest of your body and use them for what you are able to do." Frederick is an artist he can draw beautiful cards without the use of his hands, with that he is able to rent a place and buy food....We think that Frederick is a good example and that he will encourage others to work hard for their own life. This is why with UBUMWE Community Center we can reach all the handicapped children and adults who are willing to use the rest of their body so that they can learn how to take care of themselves.
Our main goals are:
-Reduce the number of beggars
-To teach skills to the handicapped
-Reduce illiteracy
-Create small jobs for handicapped
-Making a place where all handicapped in our own town can share and discuss their problems
-To show other people that the handicapped can do many things in our society and that they can help others to find a way they can support themselves.

Jessie's Place : Telephone 310.398.2594 | Email info@jessiesplace.org