Oversee Construction of New Clinic

A new, better clinic to replace the existing facility 

Beginning in January, a construction project will begin in the Dominican Republic, funded by an organization know as Solid Rock International (SRI). This facility will replace an aging facility built in 1989 and currently staffed and operated by Dominicans, however this existing clinic is located in a flood plain and has other limitations. Ever since the flooding in 1998 from hurricane George, the dream of a larger clinic located out of the flood plain has existed. This November, which is the 25th anniversary of the existing clinic, SRI and its many donors will begin to make this dream a reality.

Since the early 1990's SRI has focused exclusively on helping the people of San Juan de La Maguana in the Dominican Republic, focused on transforming the body, mind, and soul of the poor in the Dominican Republic. This region is far from the beautiful resort areas, it is close to the Haitian border and is the poorest region of the country. SRI has done amazing work, from establishing a Christian-based school with over 1,100 students, providing food and lodging in the "guest house" house adjacent to the clinic taking care of the almost 1,000 medical, surgical, construction, Bible School and other volunteers from the United States- these doctors and teams provide free amazing care to the people in this area, seeing literally thousands every year. SRI also has a wonderful child nutrition program that annually helps over 100 young mothers provide proper nutrition to their young children, SRI provides sponsorship to over 1,000 students at local Christian-based schools, has provided a clean-water facility now operated by the Dominicans, and more.

Health care in the Dominican is very bad. The poorest have no one to turn to, including the government who offers very little help. The new clinic will offer much more diverse medical care and at the same time will be able to provide more care to the poorest of the poor in this region of the country. Unlike the existing clinic, the new facility will be recognized by the government - meaning financial assistance and the ability for patients to use their government health insurance.  It will make a huge, positive impact to the people in this region.

After travelling to the clinic with our church teams three times, I heard about the dream of this new clinic possibly becoming a reality. A fundraising campaign was started in October of 2012 know as the "Revolution campaign" aimed at raising $3,000,000. The goal needed to start construction ($2,000,000) was met less than two years later - this past August.

During the fund-raising, it was recognized that someone will be needed to oversee the construction on behalf of the donors. It hit me like a brick that I am supposed to do this task. I never thought I would be one to say "I have a calling", but here I am - It is time to make the dream a reality. The project will take two and a half to three years to complete, during which time I will be living in the D.R. 

The construction will be contracted to a Dominican general contractor. As I am sure you know, third world countries have a tarnished reputation regarding building projects, so I will be working with the contractor and a fellow Solid Rock financial manager to oversee that the construction takes place in an efficient manner, is properly built and the donated money for this project is carefully spent.

Relocating to the DR will be quite a change, and I am excited and a little anxious at the same time. I  hope to keep my my remodeling business somewhat active by referring leads to the wonderful gentleman who currently do the actual onsite work for my remodeling projects, however I realistically don't know how much income this can generate with my being out of the country.

A Short Biography

My wife and I have lived in Roanoke, Virginia, since we married in 1986. Roanoke was a great place to raise our three kids, and we have been members of Second Presbyterian Church for over 25 years. Our wonderful kids are all in different parts of the country following different career paths. I currently am an active Elder on the Session at 2nd Pres, and I also am serving on the board of directors for Solid Rock International.

I graduated with an Industrial Engineering degree that focused on the Furniture Manufacturing industry in 1985 from NC State in 1985.  After 10 years doing time studies, production efficiency projects, CAD/CAM design and production I decided to get into the construction business.  I have spent almost 18 years in residential and commercial construction and currently own a "3 Day Kitchen and Bath" dealership that provides a unique remodeling service that completes custom remodeling projects in a very efficient time frame.

I feel very strongly that I am supposed to help see this project completed, and so I ask for your help. Due to the tight budget of the construction, I do not want to take funds from the construction campaign. Whether you can provide a one-time or a monthly donation, I would truly appreciate helping me with the costs of putting a business on-hold and living in the Dominican Republic for the next two to three  years.

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Some information about Solid Rock International's work in the Dominican Republic

Solid Rock has done amazing work in the D.R. since the early 90's:
(SRI was founded by missionaries who were working in the DR in the 80's)

---------  Built the Clinica Cristiana de Salud Integral in 1989 for:

            - Dominicans to serve Dominicans, focusing on serving the poorest of the poor.

            - American medical teams to provide free care not available in this region.

            - American medical missionaries work with clinic doctors and staff coordinating care provided by US surgeons and teams as well as coordinate providing care far into the area surrounding San Juan.

            - Providing training and employment in the clinic for the people of San Juan .

-------- Guest House at the Clinic

            - Annually hosts almost 1,000 volunteers made up of surgeons, medical, construction, bible school ,etc who spend a week of their time in mission work at the clinic or surrounding area.

            - Coordinates travel, provides arrangements and hosts these volunteers with an amazing faith-based staff, helping medical teams and others have successful trips.

-------- Established and built a k-12 Christian-based school that now has over 1,200 students enrolled.

-------- Has close ties and often provides assistance to 5 schools in the area with an enrollment of over 2,500.

-------- Offers the means for Americans to sponsor over 1,000 students.

-------- Has a successful Child Nutrition Program that annually helps over 100 children the age of 1 to 2 years.

-------- Built a Clean Water Facility  that is now owned and operated by Dominicans.

-------- Finally, Solid Rock has committed to providing a new Clinic for existing clinic doctors and staff to move into that will provide new and improved services to this entire southern region of the Dominican Republic. These services are not currently available in the area, and so this furthers Solid Rock's goal of fulfilling its vision to serve the poorest of the poor.

Solid Rock provides what the Domincans ask for, we do not impose our ideas on their culture. This has resulted in truly amazing, positive changes to the region. This clinic will replace an existing facility that is fully staffed and operated by Dominicans.  This partnership to serve the poorest of the poor is 25+ years old and has been the sole focus of SRI - the results are life changing for both the Dominicans and the countless volunteers who have spent their own time and money serving a wonderful people in the name of Jesus Christ.