Medhen Orphan Relief Effort a nj non-profit corporation (M.O.R.E.)

M.O.R.E. is a 501(c)(3) all volunteer not-for-profit organization that provides financial assistance to the Medhen Social Center in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia with 97% of the money raised reaching the beneficiaries - orphaned and/or vulnerable children and their parent(s) / caregivers . 

The Medhen Social Center (MSC), is supervised by Program Director Sister Senkenesh Gabre-Mariam and her staff in a severely impoverished neighborhood of the city. We support an evolving array of essential services for orphaned, vulnerable, and underserved children and youth, as well as their parents and caregivers.

MSC is very different from traditional institutional orphanages and has created a network of home-based care to support the needs of hundreds of orphaned and vulnerable children who require parental/caregiver support– somewhat like a foster care system. 

Children supported by M.O.R.E. live with families who can care for them like their own family members. M.O.R.E., through MSC, provides financial support and training to a large, tight-knit group of caregivers and children, aimed at providing the entire community with the means to better themselves. Children are intentionally placed with caregivers who often live in extreme poverty, ensuring aid reaches the most underserved households to break the cycle of poverty. Care is provided for the whole child - from the physical to intellectual and emotional well- being. 

Vulnerable Children Receive Essential Services:

• Shelter and Care: housing/rent subsidies, beds, mattresses, blankets/linens, annual distribution of clothing and shoes to all children
• Food and Nutrition: monthly food, grain, oil, milk and meal allowances
• Psychosocial Support: social services, life skills training, recreational outings, innovative Memory Book Program to process trauma
• Education and Economic Empowerment:  home-based social services, business skills training, income generating activities, after-school supplies/tutoring, out-of-pocket expense support for university students.

Over 18 years of Outsized Impact:

For over 18 years, M.O.R.E. has pioneered a dynamic, inclusive, and highly effective model of caring for orphaned and vulnerable children.  This has enabled thousands of children to grow up healthy and safe, breaking the cycle of trauma and poverty that so often follows children when they lose their families.

Importantly, by pairing orphans and vulnerable children with impoverished families with great capacity for love and care, and then providing all members with education and resources, M.O.R.E.’s model lifts up entire communities. 

Key outcomes include:

• Over 600 children & caregivers supported annually with housing, food, education, and psychosocial care
• 70%+ of families graduate with sustainable income and housing
• Daily tutoring leads to major academic gains—children often advance 2–3 grade levels
• Alumni become mentors, social workers, and MSC staff—demonstrating long-term impact
• Many MSC staff are former beneficiaries, creating a self-sustaining cycle of care

Together, We Can Do M.O.R.E.:

Please join us this year and invest in our proven programs to help orphaned and vulnerable children!  Your gift today will enable us in 2025 to complete the amazing work listed below:

• Provide more than 650 children with food, shelter, medicine, education, and psycho-social support.
• Implement special programs to elevate entire vulnerable families – single mothers and their children – with business skills training and employment support;
• Run a specific effort to alleviate trauma among the many children who have come to M.O.R.E. directly from losing families in the Ethiopian Civil War.  
• Complete an ambitious and much-needed project to digitize intake forms, reports, and records.

Visit our website to learn MORE