In a former life as a management consultant, we inevitably presented to business clients how to best use limited resources …
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We love to reunify and strengthen families, and we are finding more opportunities to do so in our residential ministries, …
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“Spring Break” took on extra meaning for all three Kids Alive residential programs this year. For some children and youth …
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Dominican Republic is the most visited tourist destination in the Caribbean
Spanish is the national language, with Haitian Creole being the largest minority language
Dominican Republic shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, taking in many Haitian immigrants following the 2010 earthquake
God is working in
Casa Monte Plata!
Please pray for...
A strong finish to the school year which has been extended to the end of July due to a pandemic related delayed start last fall.
A relaxing and fun summer break in August.
A good transition and start for several new workers including our first social worker and new house parents.
Funding for our August activities including a joint camp with our two other residential sites.
Prayer requests updated 06/2021
Casa Monte Plata is located in one of the poorest provinces of the Dominican Republic and serves almost 40 children and youth in family-style homes. We teach orphaned and abandoned youth about the richness of God’s redeeming love, giving them tools to break cycles of poverty and hopelessness.
The ministry includes transition housing, independence training, and university scholarships for young adults. We recently hired our first full-time psychologist who will help kids process traumatic pasts and improve emotional health. Four of our youth attended a summer independence “boot camp,” and we added two more students to our scholarship program. We also updated lighting and septic systems of our facilities to benefit the security and health of our children.
Our goals for 2020 include hiring additional house parents and beginning the search for new directors. We plan to coordinate with all our residential programs, streamlining our training in counseling and social work. And as more of our youth transition into independence, we want to improve the teaching of life skills so they will feel confident to stand on their own.
“Casa Monte Plata overflows with God’s love thanks to the leadership of Juana and Ramon and their staff,” says Country Director Vic Trautwein. “One recent graduate told me he was thankful to God for providing a safe place for him to grow up and develop a relationship with his Creator.”
Our campus houses 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