Located on the side of a terraced hill and surrounded by lush tropical greenery, Ark Jarabacoa provides children a soothing …
read more »In keeping with the Bible, families are central to our work among children at Ark Jarabacoa. Residential care is part …
read more »Carmen* came to Kids Alive following years of pain and sadness. After she suffered abuse in many forms, her parents …
read more »
God is working
in Jarabacoa!
Please pray for...
A good adjustment and transition of three new youth who recently arrived from Dominican child protective services.
Spiritual growth, unity, and relaxation as the staff and students enjoy a break from a challenging academic year.
Rejuvenating and safe two-week vacations for each set of house parents.
Funds for a four-day family camp in August for all three residential programs.
Prayer requests updated 06/2021
The Ark in Jarabacoa is Kids Alive’s oldest and largest residential care facility. The 45 children who have been rescued from difficult and painful circumstances live in family-style homes, cared for holistically by our dedicated staff. Not only are their immediate physical needs met, but they also receive a quality education, emotional support, and spiritual training. The Ark also supports 10 young adult graduates who live in transition homes or with families in the local community.
We received a perfect score on our last evaluation from the Dominican government and we continue to benefit from a good relationship with local child protective services. Our soccer field recently received a much-needed update and expansion, much to the delight of students. And we welcomed a professional teacher to direct our tutoring and a psychologist who will help develop individual improvement plans for each child.
For 2020, we have big goals! There is a lot of maintenance that needs to be done on our facilities, and much of our furniture needs to be refurbished. Our staff carry heavy workloads, both physically and emotionally, so we are working to better schedule times of refreshing for them. And we need to continue improvements of our independence training initiatives for older youth who are preparing to graduate from our residential program.
In the words of our Country Director, “The Ark is a paradise for kids who have come from hard places. In some sense it’s a restorative garden for the many children and youth who pass through. We love the physical beauty of the site but more importantly the spiritual healing and growth that blossoms over time.”
*Sports program incorporates kids from Ark Jarabacoa, ANIJA, and Palo Blanco
Our campus houses abused, orphaned, and abandoned children in family-style homes with loving, attentive house parents. In most cases, the kids have been through difficult and painful circumstances before coming to us, and we count it a privilege to give them a safe place to live and recover from their traumatic pasts.
Once again, we greet you from the ministries of Kids Alive in Dominican Republic, where your partnership and your gifts are helping to plant hope in the lives of at-risk children and young people. We rejoice that this is not simply a hope for escaping poverty or for a better career – you are planting the living hope (1 Pet. 1:3) in their lives which means an eternity with the One who loves them!
Within Kids Alive DR, we have the privilege of working with over 2,000 kids between the ages of 3 and 22. While this seems like a large window of opportunity to cultivate these seeds, the culture here often works against us, making the labor difficult. And nearly all the children we serve come from, and still live inside, backgrounds of abuse, exploitation, or extreme poverty. These “hard places” make the sowing of hope a real challenge.
However, one of our great joys is seeing the visible, healthy growth in these young lives and watching them blossom into beautiful new creations before our eyes. They are developing strong roots, watered by your compassion and love, and are going on to have a positive impact on their families and communities.
All our ministries are benefiting from unprecedented favor with government officials. Our schools are receiving awards for excellence; our homes are receiving commendations for our quality care, and we’re increasingly being asked to take additional children that Dominican officials have identified as abused or neglected. We see this as a tremendous privilege – and a great responsibility. read more »
Vic Trautwein
Co-Country Director
Dominican Republic
Ramon Prenza
Co-Country Director
Dominican Republic