C
hildren of the Caribbean Foundation was founded on June 1, 2010 by Julien Adams and Rosie Hodge-Adams. Built on the premise that Every Child Matters, the charity provides relief and assistance to children across the globe. The Foundation’s efforts are geared to resolving the ongoing struggles that some children face every day – poverty, hunger, illiteracy and disease – and to replace these struggles with hope for the future.
Our Goal is to give children the opportunity to achieve personal growth, and to realize their dreams in a healthy environment without regard to race, creed or place of origin.
Our Mission is to create lasting positive change in the lives of children so that they may reach their fullest potential.
Recognizing that the extent of child poverty is not just dependent on family income, but also on the availability of infrastructure and services such as healthcare, education and social services, Children of the Caribbean focuses its efforts in the areas of Education, Healthcare, Social Development and Climate Change.
Stephen Horwitz was born in Los Angeles and has lived in the Los Angeles area most of his life. He is a graduate of Cal State Northridge and received his lifetime teaching credential in 1967. Stephen taught at the Los Angeles City Schools for ten years.
In 1972, Stephen and his long time friend – Howard Wang the Sierra Canyon Day Camp in Santa Clarita Valley, California. In 1977 Stephen and Howard purchased property in Chatsworth and moved the camp to this purchased site. This was the beginning of the Sierra Canyon School which opened in 1978 with 150 students in kindergarten through sixth grade. The school facility grew to 17 acres, 40,000 sq ft of buildings and over 200 employees when it was sold in 2006. A non-profit organization was formed to build the new school.
Esther Joo is a graduate from Loma Linda University. She graduated with a Bachelors in Science and currently holds her license as a dental hygienist. Throughout the years, she has given her time and talents to various charitable organizations including Dentistry from the Heart, Union Rescue Mission, Elizabeth House Women’s Shelter, and New Friends Homeless Shelter. She has also devoted her time and efforts to personal projects throughout the years that have been connected to helping individuals in need and/or working as a connector. She was also appointed Women’s Director around 2016 by her church in Glendale and served in that position for a year. She also supports Angel Tree Project, a program that gets Christmas presents to children of incarcerated parents. Her heart is truly where the children are, and she is passionate that with today’s resources and capabilities, no child should be left without getting their basic needs met.
In her free time, Esther is a mom to her Son and enjoys working out doing Pure Barre, music festivals, and making different soup recipes, even in the summer!
St. Kitts-Nevis born Carol Ottley-Mitchell began her career as the General Manager of the St. Kitts based software development firm, Leyton Microcomputer Series. Now a stay-at-home mom, Carol has turned her attention to her love of literature and promoting literacy and a love of reading among Caribbean children. She is the self-published author of nine children’s books. Eight of the books are based in the Caribbean and children reading these books get an engaging peek into the culture, history, and geography of the Caribbean. Carol’s books have been nominated for the 2014 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award for Children’s Literature. They are also in use in the primary education system.