A summary of Dominican Starfish Foundation activities in April 2021. Our mission is to help those suffering in poverty in the Dominican Republic. We help in 5 different areas, Shelter, Food and Clothing, Education, Employment and Health Care.

3. As we expand our mandate to
help others to help themselves,
through sponsorship from our
donors, 15 women in Baraguana
are finishing a pedicure and
manicure course. A hairdressing
course has now been sponsored
and added to the program.
Some of the participants are
already earning income in the
community.

4. Here is an example of our sponsorship
program at it’s finest. This sweet girl
Marabel is 13 years old. Her mother died
leaving her alone to care for her little sister.
She is very blessed to have an adopted
Canadian grandma, Dorothy Gardiner, who
cares for her immensely. Not only does she
receive food monthly, in April she was
blessed with a new washing machine, a new
bed and bedding, a fan, and a tablet so that
she can study online. For Christmas she
received a stove!!

5. Another family we met from Javillar is
Angelina, Jeyson and their son. The home they
are living in is being sold and they have no
place to go. They have been working little by
little to build a home but because of Covid and
unemployment, they have been unable to
complete it. We are helping them to finish.
Thank you to Sam Kocsis Fackrell and her
family.

6. From Joan Perozo in San Rafael de Yuma,
we learned of the heart-breaking
conditions of this senior man, Ramon. He
has been sleeping on cardboard on his dirt
floor. He had no food in his home and has
been ill. We purchased a bed for him.
Thanks to funds raised by Tonya, Chad and
Tristan Greiner from Pennsylvania and
their friends, Ramon received a beautiful
new home in April.

7. 15 volunteers from Hope Humanitarian of
Utah joined with Dominican Starfish
Foundation to deliver 100 food packs in the
impoverished community of La Chocolatera.
They also delivered 150 hand made dolls
from the organization “Dolls of Hope”.

8. Dedicated volunteers from Hope Humanitarian
demolished Dominga’s home in preparation for building
a new one for herself and her aging mother.
April 12

9. We have never had a volunteer crew
that compares to this team from Hope
Humanitarian! Men and women alike
worked extremely hard to remove the
old foundation. They also blessed our
team with a donation of new tools.
April 13

10. April 15 was another
day of hard work for
the Hope Humanitarian
team. They dug the
foundation, unloaded a
large shipment of
cement and more.
Thanks to them for
helping the Agramonte
family. They also raised
the funds to build this
home!!

11. April 16, Hope Humanitarian
team poured cement Dominican
style. They put in 5 longs days of
very hard work. We thank them
for their service!!
April 30

12. When we chose to build a home for this family,
the original plan we to build a duplex for two
families. They are related. When it came right
down to it, the homes were on different titles
and the lay of the land made a duplex impossible.
This left one family with a home, and one family
without.
Thanks to Hope Humanitarian and addition
generous donors, we were able to raise the extra
funds needed to built another home as well.
When Dominga’s home is finished, her sister-in-
law and the children will move in with her while
their home is being built in May/June!

13. Alise and Raul, our
volunteers from Llanos de
Perez discovered these two
sisters and their 5 children
living in very desperate
conditions.
Marlenis and Angelina Cruz
lived in a home covered in
mold. The walls had huge
holes making them open to
frequent rain.
On April 12, a group of
volunteers from Hope
Humanitarian demolished
the existing home in
preparation for a new one
in the near future. They
took down the Agramonte
home and the Cruz home in
one day.

14. We hit a snag with Yrna’s home in Imbert. When
our crew started digging the foundation, they
discovered it was all sand. It’s a wonder the
house was still standing. We had to hire
machinery to take down the big, sandy hill the
original home was built on so that the
foundation could be dug into the soil. When we
were finally ready to start building the home, the
rains came. It poured rain for most of 10 days.
Finally on April 12 we were able to start digging
the foundation. Excellent progress has been
made.

15. A new home continues
in Javillar for Lislibeth,
Elvis and their family.
Thanks again to our
volunteers, Stirling and
Gabe, and their families
for helping with this
project.

16. Rigo has worked for our foundation
since we started building homes in
2013. He is one of our most
conscientious and dedicated
employees. He doesn’t own a
home of his own but lives in a
rental that is being sold.
We are finally helping him to have
a place of his own and work
continues on this project.
Thanks to Stirling and Gabe, our
volunteers for helping Rigo to build
his home.

17. Educational Projects
We continue to support
university students. This
month we have added an
additional student to our
list. This is Yudy. She is
studying dentistry. She is
also a musician. She is the
one with the violin.
We are also please to announce that we have a sponsor for a
new English program to teach English to 15 children, ages 6-12
in the community of Llanos de Perez. Our generous sponsors
are playing for the teacher’s wages and for all the supplies for
the program. They will also be learning cooking and other life
skills in the new course they will be taking. Plans are for it to
start this summer.
Due to Covid restrictions the Youth Upliftment school can’t
meet inside. They haven’t let the learning stop The
teachers are meeting the children in their areas and
teaching outside. 140 children are enrolled. Dominican
Starfish Foundation donors sponsor 50 of these children.

18. Health and Wellness
With donations through our foundation, we were able
to raise funds to help two young people have
surgeries. The young man in the photo had surgery to
reconnect some intestinal problems. He was wearing
diapers.
Jovanna (pictured below) is having surgery to correct
scoliosis problems with her spine.

19. The Reed family from Tennessee
did a fundraiser before flying to
Punta Cana. They have been out
in the community helping the
impoverished there who are
being supported by Dominican
Starfish Foundation. They
donated two stoves, two propane
tanks and a bed.

20. To celebrate the 7th anniversary of Dominican
Starfish Foundation, we created an email list
of 1750 of our donors and supporters. We
sent out our very first monthly newsletter.
Blessings resulted. We raised $21000 US that
day including a donation for an entire home
plus furnishings. What an amazing gift.
Thank you so much to Guenter and
Annemarie!!
The recipients of the new home have been
on our waiting list for quite some time.
Heroldita is raising her two grandchildren in
abject poverty after her son (their father)
was killed when a live power line fell on
him. There was a lot of weeping for joy
when only minutes after we heard of the
donation, the family received the
announcement that they would receive a
home!!

21. With our foundation, we expect the unexpected!
On April 27th we got a desperate plea from a friend to help the Jimenez family. They live in
such desperate conditions. They have 3 children, 2 with special needs. The baby has
physical infirmities and is autistic. The 5-year-old is deaf and mute.
When Fernando, our construction
manager went there, he said it was
the worst condition he has seen in
his life. He even broke down.
We have started helping right away
and plan to make this a fundraiser
for Mother’s Day.

22. Our food distribution program continues but primarily to those families who have monthly
sponsors. Amarilis (our Dominican director) has people continually at her door who are unable
to feed their families. When there is no donation money available, she will share a little of her
own limited resources so as not to turn them away. Fortunately, we were able to raise $2000
during our anniversary campaign. Much more is needed but this helps with the immediate
necessities. Thank you to our donors! Covid continues to create more problems than just the
disease. Unemployment is still rampant because of lack of tourism which is their major industry.
Food

23. Thank you to our generous donors who have pulled
together again to shower blessings on our Dominican
friends during the month of April and more!!