BIRMINGHAM, United States — In July 2025, about a dozen high school students from Mountaintop Community Church, based in Birmingham, Alabama, visited the headquarters of Mercy Workshop in San Pedro de Macorís. The building was small, featuring a lovingly furnished office with vintage pieces, a modest in-house shop and a workspace where numerous women made jewelry. The students received simple instructions: sit with these women, make bracelets and talk. Although it seemed a small task, the missionaries running Mercy Workshop considered it a vital step in healing for these women, who were formerly sex workers in the Dominican Republic.
The Story Behind Mercy Workshop
The Our Story page of the Mercy Workshop website presents alarming facts. The Dominican Republic, where the organization is based, once had the second-highest rate of femicide in Latin America. Approximately 32% of women now aged 20 to 24 were married before 18. The United States (U.S.) Department of State ranks the country as Tier 2 in its Trafficking in Persons Report, meaning the government does not fully meet the minimum standards for eliminating trafficking but is making significant efforts to do so. The United Nations (UN) estimates that up to 90% of sex trafficking victims are women, many from impoverished communities, and nearly a quarter of the population lives in poverty. For women and girls in the Dominican Republic, sexual exploitation is a real, present threat.
Allison Hale founded Mercy Workshop in 2010 after observing these problems firsthand. As the daughter of two missionaries, Hale moved to the Dominican Republic as a teenager, and her adolescence was marked by ministry. In 2009, when women at her church confided in her about exploitation they had witnessed in San Pedro, she decided to establish Mercy Workshop to address these issues. The ministry takes a twofold approach: identifying the root of vulnerability and supporting a new future for the individuals.
The Process of Healing
The Mercy Workshop team, made up of full-time female members, conducts weekly outreach in San Pedro and other major cities. They identify women employed as sex workers in tourist areas and build relationships with them before recruiting. “Many times what we learn,” Hale states in a YouTube interview, “is that they are mothers. They tuck their kids into bed, wait until they go to sleep, and then they lock the door, and they try to go out to the streets to make enough money to feed the family the next day.” She emphasizes that sex workers in the Dominican Republic engage in this work for financial reasons, not due to substance abuse; drugs and alcohol come later as a means to cope with the psychological toll.
Women who join Mercy Workshop are assigned a spiritual leader, who uses biblical teachings to emphasize their value and dignity, and a case manager, who helps them find new employment based on their backgrounds. They regularly attend Bible study, counseling sessions and jewelry-making shifts, which allow them to earn salaries while in care. The program combines employment, spirituality and healing to help women find a sense of self after years of abuse.
A Student’s Perspective
When the Mountaintop Church students visited Mercy Workshop, the language barrier was significant. Most students spoke rudimentary Spanish, and most workers had not received any English education. However, Daniela Afanador-Báez, then 17, was bilingual in English and Spanish and recalls an interesting experience at her table.
“I remember talking with one of the women about her family,” she tells The Borgen Project. “She was telling me about her siblings and her children, and it was such a cool experience to hear about her life. She was just a sweet and kind woman, after everything she has been through.”
Daniela reflects on the ages of the women. Many people picture sex workers in their mid-20s, yet at Mercy, Daniela met women as old as 40 and some her own age. For Daniela, the range of ages underscored that exploitation can affect anyone.
“If anything,” she concludes, “these women have shown me that it is not the circumstances that define us. It is how you are able to grow and continue to shine through it.”
A True Home
Sex workers in the Dominican Republic face myriad dangers, even off the clock. For women who do not live in safe conditions—either under threat from abusers, affected by homelessness or requiring frequent care—Mercy Workshop supports the Paloma House, where women can live in safety and seclusion.
The name is derived from an early success story. Paloma was one of the first women to graduate from Mercy Workshop. At the time, there was no permanent residency program, so the team helped her move in with her mother. Now, Paloma lives in stability, and in the culture of Mercy Workshop, her name is synonymous with safety and rest.
The Paloma House is a haven from men, who, in most situations, contributed heavily to the trauma these women carry. Its apartments come fully furnished with working utilities and, if desired, complete privacy. Residents often gather for social activities, like card games or shared dinners, and every woman has access to a caregiver, an educator, transportation and food. Some women bring their families. The Mercy Workshop blog tells the story of a woman named Ana, who was in sex work to provide for her children as a single mother. Ana and her family now live together in the Paloma House, with the children attending school for the first time.
It Takes a Village
Hale notes that the house is a significant investment, with the costs of salaries, upkeep and expansion running roughly $22,000 per resident. Mercy Workshop funds this work partly through jewelry sales: each piece is handcrafted by a woman in the program, and the organization also offers monthly subscription boxes that pair the jewelry with a statement from its maker about how Mercy Workshop changed her life. Donations, both one-time and recurring, provide additional support.
For the women in the program, the jewelry represents more than income—it is part of a path out of exploitation.
– Madison Hoar
Madison is based in Birmingham, AL, USA and focuses on Good News for The Borgen Project.
Photo: Mercyworkshop