A Dream of Hope for Haiti
The story of Yahve-Jire Children’s Foundation began long before there was a children’s home, a school, or a campus.
It began with a dream shared by two young Haitian schoolboys, Chedlin Justinvil and his childhood friend Daniel Auguste: that one day, a child growing up in poverty in Haiti could become a leader who would serve the country with peace and the love of Christ.
That dream became a calling.
Over the years, people from Haiti and the United States answered that call—missionaries, churches, medical professionals, volunteers, families, donors, and friends who believed in investing in Haiti’s children and their futures.
Together, they helped transform a childhood dream into a ministry centered on faith, family, education, service, and hope.
Today, Yahve-Jire Children’s Foundation seeks to improve the lives of vulnerable children and create a community where Christ is the Hope—beginning in Haiti and believing in the power of each generation to strengthen the next.
The earliest partnerships supporting Chedlin’s vision begin to take shape.
Missionary Mike Stewart and his wife, Isabell, of Savannah, Georgia, become some of the first supporters to invest in the growing mission.
Their involvement helps begin what will become a much larger network of Christians committed to serving children and communities in Haiti.
Mission teams begin traveling to Haiti to serve alongside local partners and support the growing vision.
The network of people supporting the mission continues to grow.
Susan and Harris Cummings, through Helen Little and Mission to Haiti, become part of the effort. Helen’s extraordinary commitment to Haiti would eventually include more than 50 trips to the country.
Members of Western Boulevard Presbyterian Church in Raleigh, North Carolina, led by Rev. Frank Mansell and mission committee champion Kathy Johnson, also join the growing community of supporters.
The dream is no longer held by only a few people. A network of churches, missionaries, volunteers, and friends is beginning to form around a shared belief in serving Haiti through Christ.
A catastrophic 7.0-magnitude earthquake strikes Haiti, devastating communities and leaving countless families in crisis.
In the aftermath, Chedlin begins bringing vulnerable children into his home, providing them with a safe place to live, food, education, and care.
The tragedy dramatically increases the needs facing Haiti’s children—but also brings new people into Chedlin’s growing vision.
A group from the South Hills of Pittsburgh travels to Haiti and meets Chedlin.
What begins as a post-earthquake relief effort quickly becomes something much greater.
The Pittsburgh group learns about Chedlin’s vision for the children and commits to helping him build a permanent home and school. The team helps construct a wall around four acres of land outside Port-au-Prince that will eventually become the YJCF campus.
This partnership develops into Yahve-Jire Children’s Foundation-US, supported by a dedicated group of leaders, board members, families, and donors who take on a significant role in sustaining the ministry financially and helping Chedlin’s vision grow.
Among those instrumental in developing the Pittsburgh partnership were the late Barry Ford, Denise Ford, Dan Raeder, Mike and Jodi Lutz, Bruce and Libby Johnston, Chris and Lynette Gregory, Tom DeFlippo, and members of the YJCF Board of Directors.
The Pittsburgh team commits to staying involved and returns to Haiti with a team of nurses to provide basic healthcare.
As volunteers spend more time with the growing number of children in Chedlin’s care, they begin to understand the full scope of his vision:
A permanent family home. A school. A community. And a future for children who might otherwise never have those opportunities.
The ministry continues expanding.
Jim Hall travels to Haiti with a team of oral surgeons to operate a dental clinic, providing care to hundreds of local residents.
Construction continues on dormitories at the new campus, and Yahve-Jire Children’s Foundation is formally incorporated as a nonprofit organization.
The YJCF team continues to grow.
Another dental clinic is held while construction continues on the new campus.
The children remain in the rented home in Port-au-Prince while fundraising efforts support the organization’s growing work.
YJCF holds its first fundraiser to help sustain the ministry and its partnership with Chedlin.
Chedlin, Sofie, and the children finally move onto the newly built YJCF campus.
The boys’ and girls’ dormitories are completed, and construction begins on a multipurpose building.
Visiting teams expand their outreach by providing vision care in addition to dental services.
After years of faith, fundraising, construction, and partnership, the children finally have a permanent place to call home.
A new school and church are completed on the YJCF campus in Croix-des-Bouquets.
Children from the home walk to school alongside children from the surrounding community.
YJCF’s vision expands beyond caring for children in the home to serving the broader community.
Chedlin is now supporting 26 children full-time with a place to live, learn, and thrive.
Solar power is installed to provide the majority of the campus’s energy needs.
A large kitchen and multipurpose building are completed.
Funds are raised to build a dental clinic.
As the oldest children grow into young adults, YJCF and Chedlin begin developing plans to help them transition from the children’s home into independent adulthood.
Education, employment, life skills, and the ability to give back become increasingly important parts of the YJCF mission.
At the same time, growing violence and instability begin threatening communities throughout Haiti.
Armed violence and kidnappings increase amid political unrest and economic decline.
Communities experience growing fear, restricted mobility, and increasing difficulty accessing schools, healthcare, markets, and other necessities.
The assassination of President Jovenel Moïse accelerates Haiti’s deteriorating security situation.
Armed groups expand their territorial control, particularly in and around Port-au-Prince and along key transportation routes.
Families face increasing difficulty accessing food, education, healthcare, employment, and other basic services.
Escalating gang violence makes it increasingly difficult to safely access food, gasoline, supplies, and other necessities.
The YJCF family home continues to serve as a safe haven for the children.
The YJCF school grows to more than 200 students.
For many children in the surrounding community, school provides more than an education—it provides safety, community, and access to a daily meal.
As security conditions around Port-au-Prince deteriorate, Chedlin and the children relocate to the northern region of Haiti near Cap-Haïtien, in the community of Madeline.
The move provides the children with a safer and more peaceful environment.
Younger children continue their education through a homeschool program while middle and high school students attend schools outside the campus.
Five young adults begin college as they prepare for greater independence and seek to develop the knowledge and skills necessary to contribute to their communities.
Today, the YJCF children continue to live near Cap-Haïtien.
They attend school and participate in church activities, daily prayer, worship, and educational programs while growing together as a family.
YJCF has also welcomed three additional children rescued from areas affected by severe violence, providing them with the safety, stability, and care they need.
Beginning with the 2026–2027 school year, children previously participating in the on-campus homeschool program will join the other YJCF children in attending local schools.
The circumstances surrounding the ministry have changed many times.
The mission has not.
Built By Many Hands
One Mission. Many People Answering the Call.
No single person, church, family, or organization built Yahve-Jire Children’s Foundation.
The ministry has grown because people continued to answer the call to serve.
Since 2003, more than 300 mission team members have traveled to Haiti, contributing their time, talents, professional expertise, resources, prayers, and love to the children, staff, ministry, and surrounding communities.
The YJCF story has been strengthened by the support of churches and ministries including Mission to Haiti, Western Boulevard Presbyterian Church, White Memorial Presbyterian Church, Pinetops Presbyterian Church, and Clarksville Presbyterian Church, as well as Yahve-Jire Children’s Foundation-US and the many individuals, families, donors, mission teams, healthcare professionals, and friends who have served alongside the ministry.
Their contributions have taken many forms—from building and fundraising to education, medical care, prayer, leadership, and simply showing up year after year.
They went to Haiti hoping to bring hope and love.
Again and again, they discovered they received just as much in return.
From One Dream to the Next Generation
The story that began with a dream shared by two Haitian schoolboys has become something much larger than either could have imagined.
But the heart of that original dream remains.
We believe Haiti’s future can be strengthened by investing in its children.
Chedlin’s life was changed because others invested in his education and believed in his potential. He carried that opportunity forward by opening his life and home to children who needed someone to believe in them.
Now, we hope those children will carry it forward again.
One child given an opportunity can grow into an adult who creates opportunities for others.
That is the cycle YJCF hopes to build.
That is the future we continue working toward.
And through every chapter, we remain rooted in the belief that Christ is the Hope.
Yahve-Jire Children's Foundation 