Vic and Leslie Trautwein

Vic and Leslie have been serving as West Side missionaries with Kids Alive International in the Dominican Republic since 2002. They were members of West Side some years earlier. Numerous groups of West Side teens have served with the Trautweins on mission trips to the DR every 3 years and many West Side adults have served there as well. 

Vic and Leslie strive to transform the lives of over 2500 vulnerable children and youth through seven holistic care schools, three foster care campuses and an independence program, Vic serves as the co-county director, and Dr. Leslie, a pediatrician, is the medical care director. They oversee 350 workers in the various Kids Alive projects, 40 of whom are graduates of their schools and formerly at-risk kids. 

In the last year they have increased the level of university scholarships, added more tutoring and special needs capacity, and grown their after-school sports programs. They have celebrated several Christian marriages among former vulnerable youth from broken homes who are now forming Christian families. In the coming year they hope to expand their holistic care models on several campuses, add more dental care and special need services, open 2-3 more residential homes, expand their job skills/life skills program and add 300 new child sponsors.