Like its namesake, Jesse’s Gifts and Décor is the love-child of Kiddist and Jerome Cowans. Unable to find comfort during a complicated pregnancy with our first-born son, Jesse, I did what Jamaicans everywhere are known for – ‘tun mi han’ and make fashion’.

Not only did I manage to design and sew my own super-comfy maternity body pillow while on bed rest at home, but the mandated time-off also gave birth to a series of beautiful hand-stitched cushions – which caught the eye of several social media friends and followers.

With orders coming in rapidly for cushions, I had to quickly co-opt my husband and mother-in-law to help meet the demand. That’s when we recognised that there was a niche for our home-made items; so we began to expand into providing other gift and décor items – made even more enticing through personalisation.

Now, Jesse’s Gifts and Décor is known for producing a wide range of high-quality personalised gift and décor items – for homes, SMEs, individuals, and corporate partners. Our growth, however, has never changed who we are at our core – we are 100% home-grown in Kingston, Jamaica – and we still put our hearts into everything we do.

We put our hearts in everything we do – from delivering our signature standard of quality products and services, operating with mindful, sustainable practices, and giving back to build back the community that built us. 

Community has always been a big deal to Jesse’s Gifts and Decor. We’re built on the support of a community that has been growing with us since we stitched our first cushion – so of course, we think it’s important to give back. We are proud of many initiatives that we’ve done since inception to support our families, local community and contribute to nation-building efforts.

 

We had help, of course, as our social media family chipped in to help us identify and select the right persons for these donations. The beneficiaries of $50,000 each included Kashara Wilson, a single mom who was seeking help to complete her studies; Gerald Gordon and Rockeem Levy, who will be travelling to Colombia on a Christian mission; and Omar Ford, who lost his home to a fire two days before Christmas in 2020. Ford received $50,000 in building supplies, as well as a refrigerator from the Cowans family.

 

The challenges of the coronavirus pandemic were far-reaching; against the background that many have lost jobs, homes, employment and access to the usual support from pre-COVID-19 times, we decided to make a donation of $150,000 to three most-deserving members of our community.