Don Sawyer lll  (USA Professor) and Clarens Descorias (Haitian medical student in the Dominican Republic) had a dream to unite Haitian and Dominican youth living in the Dominican Republic.  

In 2017 we, Don and Clarens founded HipHopHeals, a community-based project using the hip-hop culture to unite youth. 

Since 2017, we have dedicated our time and resources to serving communities in the Dominican Republic. Through our work together, youth have learned photography, videography, songwriting, music production, and English.

More recently, because of the generosity of Ms. Tonya and her family and the Dominican Starfish Foundation, women in the community have been trained as beauticians and manicurists. These certifications open up ways for people to earn a living and provide for their families. What started through a love of hip-hop culture has grown to impact other areas of the community.

This current fundraiser is dedicated to the next stage of our project. With your support, we hope to build the HipHopHeals Community Center. With additional assistance from Ms. Tonya and her family, we have purchased the land on which the center will stand. If all goes well, we will start construction in April 2022, with a targeted completion date in July 2022.The center will consist of three sections: a barbershop, a hair salon/manicure shop, and a music studio/classroom. The classroom will serve as the main space for our English classes.  

Together, Haiti and the Dominican Republic have a complicated history.  However, this work has helped create an environment to heal past hurts through community engagement.  We believe that music and a focus on our common humanity can unite communities.  Please support us on this journey.

We need your help to bring this dream into reality! 

100% of your donations will go directly to the project.  Your donations qualify for a charitable tax receipt from Pal Humanitarian, the USA arm of Dominican Starfish Foundation which has been serving for several years in this community.