During a Wheelchair Distribution Trip sponsored by Chair the Love to the Dominican Republic last year, our final stop was a brief visit to an amazing place run by an incredible woman, Amarilis Pereyra. 

Just outside Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, in a large house in the suburbs, Amarilis, 54, has devoted her life to helping young girls who no longer have a home for the past twenty years. An orphan herself, living in the streets, rejected by her own mother, she lived the pain. Amarilis and her small staff now take in as many young girls as possible to change their futures and help heal their broken lives.

Operating in a home that once housed a drug lord, her ministry is largely based on donations and volunteer efforts from churches and individuals, together with a a small stipend from the government.  Each month is a supreme exercise in faith just to provide food to eat.  Clothes, educational materials and other necessities of life are considered a luxury.