The Village Mountain Mission Project is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing assistance for families in the Dominican Republic living in poverty. For over a decade, we have organized high adventure, hands-on trips for groups who want to make a lasting difference for others, while having fun and learning about life in a developing country.
The Village Mountain Mission exists to bring HELP, HOPE, and LOVE to the people of the Dominican Republic. We bring HELP by building houses for those who are unable to live in their existing house due to extreme poverty. We bring HOPE by providing and teaching basic medical procedures for healthy living and wound care. We bring LOVE by providing unconditional love to all peoples in the Dominican Republic.
Travel restrictions during the pandemic stopped crew work for three years. The pandemic also affected medical and educational endeavors of the mission.
Early in the mission, the desire to take medical care to the remote villages was added, and numerous medical mission trips occurred. The establishment of a network of village healers, residents who were trained to screen neighbors for appropriate care, transport to clinics and hospitals, health education, and preventative care. The pandemic stopped this program; it is currently under review for return. The need for early childhood education was recognized and resulted in the establishment of three preschools for at-risk children and summer camps. This program also closed during the pandemic. Plans to reinstate this program are currently not in progress.
The Village Mountain Mission is incorporated through the Ohio Secretary of State, registered as a charitable organization through the Ohio Attorney General Office, and is a registered national charity with the government of the Dominican Republic. It has a charitable organization tax status with the IRS as a 501(c)(3) organization.
The mission has been primarily self-funded through participants’ fees. Due to increasing costs in recent years, the need has arisen to seek donors for operational costs and house sponsorships. Partners make direct donations and/or conduct fundraisers to benefit the mission.
A retired Boy Scout, Bill Benson, once visited the north coast of the Dominican Republic on a sailing excursion. His original goal was to establish a high adventure sailing trip for youth, however; a trip into the countryside, changed his goal into helping the struggling residents of the rural Puerta Plata province. In 2004, the first crew of Boy Scouts from Fairfield County, Ohio, was the first group to begin building homes for the poor.
The homes are durable, simple homes of a modest size. Crews from numerous states have participated, including churches, high schools, groups of friends, and colleges.
