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A New Year Message from our Founder & President

28 December, 2025

NEW YORK, December 28, 2025

As we stand at the threshold of 2026, I am filled with a profound sense of gratitude and purpose. This year has been more than just another chapter for the Batey Relief Alliance (BRA); it has been a celebration of a legacy that began in 1997 with a simple mission: to restore health, hope, and dignity to the most vulnerable among us.

In 2025, our “holistic approach” reached new heights, proving that sustainable change is possible when we work together.

This year alone, we solidified a legacy that now spans almost 30 years of service:

  • Lives Transformed: We’re proud to have reached a cumulative milestone of 4.5 million lives impacted across the Americas and the Caribbean. 
  • Lives Saved: Our health and HIV/AIDS program continues to provide vital care and primary health services to rural populations that would otherwise have no access to a doctor. 
  • A Pillar of Nutrition: To date, we’ve distributed over 2,600 metric tons of nutritious food. In the Dominican Republic alone, our nutrition program has benefited 1,235,850 people, representing approximately 11% of the national population. 
  • Clean Water & Health: We’ve successfully delivered nearly 450 million liters of clean water and installed sanitation systems that protect over 500,000 people from waterborne diseases. 
  • Maternal & Child Wellness: Through our 2024-2026 Commitment to Action with the Clinton Global Initiative, in the first year alone, we distributed 1,775,000 doses of Vitamin A and deworming medications, supporting 54,000 children and 9,180 pregnant women. 
  • Advocacy for Girls: Our research continues to drive policy, addressing the fact that 20% of girls in rural areas missed school due to menstrual inequality—a gap we are closing through the production of reusable pads. 
  • Women Empowerment Initiative: We’ve scaled new heights, providing new homes, the micro-funding and skills training necessary for rural women to lead their own economic futures.

Since founding BRA in October 1997, we’ve raised more than $130 million in humanitarian aid. From building the first modern health complex in a rural batey (Batey Cinco Casas) to our current Women’s Empowerment Initiative, we have remained community-centered.

Being honored this month with the “Key to the City” in the Dominican Republic was a humbling reminder that our work is recognized not just for the aid we provide, but for the dignity we restore.

To our partners, donors, and the resilient communities we serve: Thank you. You are the reason we’ve thrived for nearly three decades.

As we enter the New Year, my wish for you is one of health, prosperity, and peace. May we all continue to be a light for those who are ill, hungry, thirsty and abandoned. Let us make 2026 a year where we reach the next million lives with the same compassion that started this journey in 1997.

Happy New Year to all.

With deepest gratitude,
Ulrick Gaillard, J.D.