Project Esperanza
Rating: 4.92 stars 51 51 reviews 1,603
Address:
1291 Valley Mill Rd. Winchester VA 22602 USA
Mission:
The mission of Project Esperanza is to create positive change in the city of Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic and in the New River Valley of Virginia. We do this by uniting the two communities in mutual support while providing innovative educational and social efforts in both. In the Dominican Republic we work with the Haitian refugee population through providing a home for boys and supporting several grassroot schools. In the U.S. we run an after-school program and engage our community in social awareness and involvement.
Results:
Since 2007 we have maintained two grassroots schools as well as a group home and school for kids from the streets. This past year (2012) we have worked hard to improve our international volunteer program and small business endeavors in order to create sustainability for our schools and group home over the long run.
Target demographics:
Haitian immigrant youth and adults in the Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic area.
Direct beneficiaries per year:
700
Geographic areas served:
Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic
Programs:
Home and School for Haitian street kids living and working in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic 2 Grassroots Schools which educate Haitian immigrant children who face many difficulties attending school otherwise. International Volunteer program which leads hundreds of expats to serve in the area and receive great insight into the societal problems and successful solutions. Small business endeavors that employ locals who were without work otherwise and raise to support our other service programs.
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Reviews for Project Esperanza
We took a school trip to the Dominican Republic to work with Project Esperanza. It was an amazing experience! Caitlin and Katy were great leaders, the kids were wonderfully sweet, and we all learned so much! We are definitely coming back!
A group of college students and I traveled to the Dominican Republic to work with Project Esperanza for our Spring Break and returned to the US changed and inspired. Caitlin and Kati were wonderful hosts as well as the entire town of Muñoz. I would return to Project Esperanza in a heartbeat as the work they are doing is really making a difference in both the volunteers' lives as well as the students and community members' lives. If you have time to take a week (or longer) out of your hectic life to go help an organization, Project Esperanza should be at the top of your list!!!
Caitlin is the Mother Teresa of Puerto Plata!! It is amazing what this small organization has done in a few years, while giving volunteers and college students a remarkable opportunity to serve and grow. We took 19 university students there over spring break 2016 and they had an extremely meaningful time, with many wanting to return.
An amazing organization lead by amazing people. They do great work for the community and are truly invested in helping support the lives of those living in it. Would definitely volunteer for this organization again. Great experience.
A great organization that's incredibly integrated with the community it serves! Caitlin is warm and intelligent, and clearly dedicated to her work.
This is quite an impressive organization. For being small they do great work with very positive outcomes. They now have 2 schools going for Haitian children, and help the adults with micro-businesses to support their families. The director, Caitlin, is extremely talented and devoted.
We took our family to Esperanza for a week. It was life changing. We are a family of 7. Our children are 24, 22, 19, 13, 11. We lived in the house all in one big bedroom, ate at the house, walked around the neighborhood and played soccer with the kids. During the day we worked with the children for half the day and then painted the school the second half of the day. Esperanza was a great host. They were warm, kind, and helped us participate in the community. We all came away changed. Strongly endorse participating with Esperanza.
I recently volunteered with Project Esperanza with 10 other college students and every one of us had a great time serving and getting to know the DR and Hatian community. It was a huge perspective changer for myself and I wouldn't have traded it for anything in the world. The staff of Project Esperanza are doing great things over there. I would highly recommend this organization if you want to step out of your comfort zone and experience this great adventure of serving others and volunteering alongside these amazing people!
The experience i had in Project Esperanza will forever stay with me! Meeting the most amazing, charismatic, inspirational people. The way it opened many of my Group's eyes from the University of Central Florida to help our community and to work as a team to achieve a bigger goal. The way we met different individuals and shared their life stories and what had happen to them was very touching! If everyone had a chance to be apart of an organization like this it would change your life perspective completely. It is very clear that Caitlin is very special and she put many stuff asside to help these children and families in Muñoz! Thank you again Caitlin for a unforgettable experience with Project Esperanza 2015.
I had an incredible experience volunteering with Project Esperanza! I met so many amazing people. The communities that we helped were so welcoming and kind. I highly recommend and support this organization.
