Hundreds of people gathered in Santo Domingo during the first week of August with one shared desire: to better understand how the local church can respond to the needs of vulnerable children and families.
Back2Back D.R. staff joined church leaders, organizations, and advocates from across the country for Alianza Cristiana para el Huarfano, an annual gathering focused on equipping Christians to care well for vulnerable children and families. For a ministry still establishing its presence in the D.R., the gathering offered something especially valuable: a chance to listen and learn, to share what Back2Back has learned globally, and to continue building relationships rooted in trust.
The entire Back2Back D.R. team participated, helping wherever needed and connecting with attendees throughout the event. Staff hosted coaching tables, creating spaces for conversations around trauma-informed care and the needs children and families face daily.
A Back2Back Monterrey social worker led breakout sessions focused on social work and the importance of equipping people with the training and tools necessary for this work. Trauma Free World was also present, contributing to conversations around trauma and healing.
Several hundred people attended throughout the event, and for the Back2Back team, their presence represented something hopeful: churches and leaders were willing to gather, ask questions, and begin conversations still relatively new in the D.R. One moment revealed just how much opportunity remains; during a session, a leader held up a book, announcing they wanted to give it to a foster or adoptive family at the event who was there and raised their hands. No hands went up.
In a room filled with hundreds of people who cared deeply about vulnerable children, there wasn’t a foster or adoptive family present to receive the book. The moment became an invitation. It revealed a significant gap and an opportunity for the local church to step into it.
Foster care engagement within churches in the D.R. is still in its earliest stages, but Back2Back staff believe that can change. They trust the same small beginnings God used when Back2Back first planted in Mexico can be used in the same ways today, in new locations around the world.
The team has officially begun exploring foster care support in the D.R., starting slowly and intentionally. Training is underway, and Hope Garcia, D.R. Co-Director, has begun walking alongside a family from her own church who expressed interest in fostering. Through Trauma-Informed Care training and ongoing relationship, she is helping equip them for what saying yes could require.
One family. One church. One beginning. It may feel small compared to the size of the need, but lasting change often starts this way, with one hand raised, not hundreds.
As Back2Back continues building relationships with churches, organizations, and government leaders throughout the Dominican Republic, the team is praying for favor: that God would continue opening doors and allow Back2Back to be a trusted voice as systems of care for vulnerable children and families develop.
Alianza Cristiana para el Huarfano offered a glimpse of both realities at once: the gap is significant, and people are beginning to see it. Hundreds gathered and asked important questions. Relationships deepened, and trainings took place, and in a room where no hands went up that day, Back2Back prays for a future where, when asked again, the response looks different.
