The vision is becoming a reality and we are so close!
For over 37 years, Adelante Youth Mission (AYM) has served the poorest communities in the Dominican Republic. What we witnessed there changed everything — and it's why we are focused on this campaign.
This is a true story — A young man's leg hung at an unnatural angle below the knee — swiveling, twisted, broken, beyond healing on its own.
When Tom Doyle met him in the village of La Ciénega in the Dominican Republic, the injury was already old. There had been no doctor, no clinic, no ambulance. So, the young man simply kept living — in pain, in silence — his fate sealed not by the severity of his injury, but by the place he happened to call home. This is what set the medical campus in motion.
This is what it means to have no access to medical care.
Father Joachim Lally, CSP, founded Adelante Youth Mission (AYM) in 1989 with a simple, fierce conviction: that the poorest of the poor in the Dominican Republic deserve better. For 37 years, AYM missionaries and volunteers have been building modest homes, supporting local schools, providing scholarships to college students, supplying needed food, and operating pop-up medical clinics in communities that have nothing in the past.
Children often become extremely ill and could die from infections that a $3 antibiotic could have cured.
They have held the hands of mothers who never received prenatal care.
Year after year, driven by Father Lally, Tom Doyle and the board of directors of AYM unwavering devotion to the poor and the belief that those who witness poverty have a responsibility to act.
The numbers are heartbreaking.
In rural communities like Las Ciénega, people aren't suffering from rare or exotic diseases. They are suffering from conditions that are entirely manageable if they had a clinic, a doctor, and basic medicine available to them.
Now, we have a chance to change that — permanently.
Adelante Youth Mission is in the process of completing a capital campaign to build a state of the art, fully equipped medical campus in Las Ciénega — a permanent facility that will serve the diverse healthcare needs of the surrounding region of about 15,000 citizens, for years to come. Our architectural plans were completed. Our construction is ongoing. Our medical staff is being selected and trained for their upcoming roles in operating the medical clinic.
For over 37 years, Adelante Youth Mission (AYM) has served the poorest communities in the Dominican Republic. What we witnessed there changed everything — and it's why we are focused on this campaign.
This is a true story — A young man's leg hung at an unnatural angle below the knee — swiveling, twisted, broken, beyond healing on its own.
When Tom Doyle met him in the village of La Ciénega in the Dominican Republic, the injury was already old. There had been no doctor, no clinic, no ambulance. So, the young man simply kept living — in pain, in silence — his fate sealed not by the severity of his injury, but by the place he happened to call home. This is what set the medical campus in motion.
This is what it means to have no access to medical care.
Father Joachim Lally, CSP, founded Adelante Youth Mission (AYM) in 1989 with a simple, fierce conviction: that the poorest of the poor in the Dominican Republic deserve better. For 37 years, AYM missionaries and volunteers have been building modest homes, supporting local schools, providing scholarships to college students, supplying needed food, and operating pop-up medical clinics in communities that have nothing in the past.
Children often become extremely ill and could die from infections that a $3 antibiotic could have cured.
They have held the hands of mothers who never received prenatal care.
Year after year, driven by Father Lally, Tom Doyle and the board of directors of AYM unwavering devotion to the poor and the belief that those who witness poverty have a responsibility to act.
The numbers are heartbreaking.
In rural communities like Las Ciénega, people aren't suffering from rare or exotic diseases. They are suffering from conditions that are entirely manageable if they had a clinic, a doctor, and basic medicine available to them.
- The Dominican Republic's rate of preventable premature deaths is 60.3% higher than the regional average for the Americas — meaning people are dying of conditions that proper treatment could have stopped. (Pan American Health Organization)
- In the poorest rural regions, hypertension affects an estimated 57% of the population — yet most have no access to blood pressure medication that costs pennies a day. (Annals of Global Health)
- People are dying from diabetes and hypertension in rural Dominican Republic — not because treatment is impossible, but because no one has ever been there to provide it.
- Children are growing up without vaccinations. Mothers are delivering babies without skilled care. Young men are living with broken legs that were never set.
Now, we have a chance to change that — permanently.
Adelante Youth Mission is in the process of completing a capital campaign to build a state of the art, fully equipped medical campus in Las Ciénega — a permanent facility that will serve the diverse healthcare needs of the surrounding region of about 15,000 citizens, for years to come. Our architectural plans were completed. Our construction is ongoing. Our medical staff is being selected and trained for their upcoming roles in operating the medical clinic.
The Medical Campus will include a reception area, an emergency room, consulting and treatment rooms, a pharmacy, a laboratory, and dedicated spaces for dental and ophthalmology care. A Community & Teaching Center on the same campus will provide health education on prenatal care, diabetes management, hypertension, cardiology care, vaccine awareness, and other chronic illnesses. In the third building on campus we will provide 4 Hospice Care rooms to serve elderly homeless individuals with dignity and care in their last stages of their life.
Leading the medical center will be Dr. Jenny Pena, a Dominican Republic urgent care physician with over 20 years of experience, supported by Dominican and United States specialists, registered nurses, dentists, ophthalmologists, pharmacists, lab technicians as well as visiting volunteers from across the United States and the Dominican Republic. Some of our part time volunteer doctors and nurses are former Adelante Youth Mission (AYM) scholarship recipients — living proof that investment in people transforms communities for generations.
Our goal is to open the doors and begin treating patients in September of 2026.
Leading the medical center will be Dr. Jenny Pena, a Dominican Republic urgent care physician with over 20 years of experience, supported by Dominican and United States specialists, registered nurses, dentists, ophthalmologists, pharmacists, lab technicians as well as visiting volunteers from across the United States and the Dominican Republic. Some of our part time volunteer doctors and nurses are former Adelante Youth Mission (AYM) scholarship recipients — living proof that investment in people transforms communities for generations.
Our goal is to open the doors and begin treating patients in September of 2026.
We are so close. We are asking for your help to close the gap and make this clinic a reality.
Every gift matters. Every dollar brings us closer to the day that nobody in Las Ciénega and the surrounding villages goes without the necessary medical care — treatment for a broken bone from a motorcycle accident, relief from viruses and infections of all types, or care for the severe pain of an earache or toothache. That no mother delivers her baby alone, and that no young man or woman is told by the silence of an absent clinic that their suffering does not matter.
All of these projects have been outpourings of love—often requiring great effort, sacrifice, and generosity. And at the heart of it all is the same mission: to build bridges… to deepen friendship… to discover one another… and to help us become not two separate communities, but one human family.
Will you help us open these doors?
You can make a one-time gift or a monthly contribution online at adelanteyouthmission.org/donate, or by completing the enclosed donation form. At Adelante Youth Mission, 94.5% of all dollars donated go directly to serving the Dominican community.
With love in our hearts for the poor, we express our deepest gratitude for your kindness and consideration.
Every gift matters. Every dollar brings us closer to the day that nobody in Las Ciénega and the surrounding villages goes without the necessary medical care — treatment for a broken bone from a motorcycle accident, relief from viruses and infections of all types, or care for the severe pain of an earache or toothache. That no mother delivers her baby alone, and that no young man or woman is told by the silence of an absent clinic that their suffering does not matter.
All of these projects have been outpourings of love—often requiring great effort, sacrifice, and generosity. And at the heart of it all is the same mission: to build bridges… to deepen friendship… to discover one another… and to help us become not two separate communities, but one human family.
Will you help us open these doors?
You can make a one-time gift or a monthly contribution online at adelanteyouthmission.org/donate, or by completing the enclosed donation form. At Adelante Youth Mission, 94.5% of all dollars donated go directly to serving the Dominican community.
With love in our hearts for the poor, we express our deepest gratitude for your kindness and consideration.
Thousands of families currently live without proper medical care and we are committed to helping them!
The image above is the layout for the Medical Campus, which will include the Medical Center, Community & Training Center, and Hospice Care. The improvements for the Hospice Care rooms include the installation of new plumbing in the restrooms, new beds, fans, one comfortable chair per room, a table with two chairs, and a chest of drawers.
There will be four units which will serve as hospice living quarters for elderly homeless individuals who require the care provided by our staff.
The Medical Center will include a reception area, an emergency room, consulting rooms, a pharmacy, and spaces for dental, and ophthalmology care.
The Community & Training Center is dedicated to health education for villagers, covering topics such as pre-natal care, diabetes management, vaccine awareness, etc. Our goal is to provide a welcoming space for activities and services including health education programming. These enhancements fall within the clinic budget. More detailed information about the budget is available to donors who are interested.
There will be four units which will serve as hospice living quarters for elderly homeless individuals who require the care provided by our staff.
The Medical Center will include a reception area, an emergency room, consulting rooms, a pharmacy, and spaces for dental, and ophthalmology care.
The Community & Training Center is dedicated to health education for villagers, covering topics such as pre-natal care, diabetes management, vaccine awareness, etc. Our goal is to provide a welcoming space for activities and services including health education programming. These enhancements fall within the clinic budget. More detailed information about the budget is available to donors who are interested.
Other ways to donate
For PayPal - Click on the Yellow Donate Button above.
To donate by check, please make it payable to Adelante Youth Mission and send it to the address below:
Fr. Joachim Lally, CSP
215 Sheldon Blvd. SE
Grand Rapids MI 49503
If you include your return address, we will be happy to mail you a receipt.
To donate by check, please make it payable to Adelante Youth Mission and send it to the address below:
Fr. Joachim Lally, CSP
215 Sheldon Blvd. SE
Grand Rapids MI 49503
If you include your return address, we will be happy to mail you a receipt.
