The JUCONI Foundation started in 1989 thanks to the efforts of Sarah Thomas MBE, Joanna Wright de Serra and Gabriel Benitez. Together, they teamed up to transform their vision into a reality.
The JUCONI Foundation’s vision to create a highly professional programme for street children in the city of Puebla, Mexico. JUCONI quickly evolved to respond to the distinct needs of each child it supported. It was one of the first organisations in Mexico to expand its work to include the families of street children. This advancement led to systemic work with other key actors in the life of each and every child including teachers, employers, neighbours and the wider community.
In 1995, following the success of JUCONI in Mexico, Joanna and Gabriel wanted to reach children and families outside of Puebla in Mexico and established JUCONI in Guayaquil, Ecuador.
In 2001, JUCONI launched the Technical Support Centre (TSC) to share its expertise with other organisations and programmes catering to excluded children affected by violence.
Today, JUCONI Mexico and JUCONI Ecuador each directly support 350 children and their families per year. As an organisation, JUCONI employs over 140 staff across Mexico and Ecuador and is supported by up to 20 volunteers at any one time.
For many children living and working on the streets of Mexico and Ecuador, JUCONI is their last chance.
JUCONI works with highly excluded children who drop out of or are missed by existing state and voluntary service provisions. Every time such children are failed by another organisation, they become more detached and less trusting that their lives can be improved.
For the majority of children supported by JUCONI, integration into a safe family environment is the result of the intensive and personalised work carried out by highly trained educators over a period of time.
However, for some children, the creation of a safe environment in their familial home is not possible and, in those cases, children are housed and nurtured in JUCONI House.
Their case studies provide examples of typical JUCONI situations. These reveal the positive impact of the JUCONI Programme on the lives of children, getting them to leave the streets and become permanently re-integrated into society.
Each year, JUCONI carries out a long-term evaluation of those who graduated from the Programmes 5 and 10 years earlier.