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Tijuana Ministry Meeting Minutes

April -18, 2013

The April 18 meeting of the Tijuana Ministry Core Team took place at the home of Monica Rising.  Present were Holly, Stan, Francesca, Mike Emery, Frank, Bob Malone, Jon Bosco, Joan and Monica.

Prayers was lead by Mike Emery                                   Minutes:  Joan Mibach

Minutes of the previous meeting were corrected to show that Jon Bosco attended the meeting, and to correct the pre build dates to May 11 and June 1.

Fundraising

St. Julie’s garage sale was a huge success generating $7,200.  Increase in sales attributed to good signage, quality of gods sold, and the $5.00 a bag Sunday deal.  Having Monica speak at all the Masses the weekend before seemed to encourage folks to donate as well as attend.   It was beneficial to have the help and support of the youth ministry.  As agreed to at the previous meeting we will share proceeds with St. Julie’s Youth Ministry.  It was proposed and agreed that we will donate $700 or about 10% of the proceeds to Youth Ministry in support of all the help they provided to the success of the garage sale. 

Car wash is set for June 9.  Bobby Dartez has arranged for a water company employee to set up the water hydrant with a meter for the day.  It was agreed  that we make the same agreement with the teens to share profits if they participate in working the Car Wash event.

Monica notified Joan that St. Simon may mail their $10,000 donation to S. Julie’s Parish for the Tijuana Ministry.

Pre Build Days

This year’s pre-build days will be Saturday, May 11 and Saturday June 1.  Location is Yerba Buena High School.

Construction Program

·         House project on schedule.  It was suggested that we consider an ADA style roll in shower and a propane hot water system for the bathroom.  This will assist the family in caring for the mother. 

·         2 roof projects on schedule – Frank, Nick and Bob will be constructing a mock-up in San Jose soon.  It is the intent that we document this project during this summer’s trip and encourage locals to continue building roofs on their own following our suggested design.

·         Chapel project in question.  May need to postpone this project since original construction documents have not yet been obtained.  Without these plans we are not able to design the roof.  We may send a core team of builders to TJ to make a final determination about the project.   It was agreed that if we cannot get the necessary information by the end of April we will postpone and pursue building a second home instead.  This motion was approved by all present.

It was agreed that we will proceed with ordering lumber for 1 house and two roofs at an approximate cost of $8,000.   

NEED:      We are in need of plumbers for this summer’s projects.  We are also in need of a truck to replace Bobby Dartez’s for pulling the trailer to TJ.

Mothers Program

Kathy Fanger was not present for reporting.  It was suggest that we contact Kathy for her “wish list” of supplies so that the various groups can start collecting.  It was agreed to allocate a budget of $500 to the Mother’s program at this time.  If additional funds are needed the leader request through the core team.

Children’s Program

Leaders Jillian Paist, Theresa Clark, and Brian Fanger have a first planning meeting scheduled for May 5.  They will also be preparing their supply wish list.  It was agreed to allocate an initial budget of $500 to the Children’s program.  If additional funds are needed the leader should request through the core team.

Compound

Joan asked that Bob or Jesse let Fr. Joe know that we will need an additional refrigerator at the compound.  During the visit earlier this year it was noted that only 2 refrigerators were in the kitchen and we need a third like last year.  It was also noted that Nubia has told Bob that she plans to travel this summer and will assist Joan with facilities.  Everyone was very happy to hear that she will be with us since she has always been an asset to managing the compound and translating. 

IMPORTANT DATES:

Traveler Orientation Meetings:

St. Julies, June 2 at 4:00 PM

St. Simon, Thursday,  May 23, 7:00 PM.  It was suggested that Resurrection join the St. Simon meeting for orientation. 

Travelers should feel welcome to attend any one of these two meetings that best fits their schedule.

Core Team will begin meeting every two weeks. 

May 7, at St. Simon Jude Room, 7:00  PM

May 21, at the home of Francesca, 7:00 PM

June  4, at the home of Joanna, 7:00 PM

June 18 place TBD

July 2 place TBD

July 9, mandatory group meeting before leaving.  More details to follow

July 11:  Advance team leaves for TJ

July 13:  Caravan leaves St. Julies approx. 6:00 am

July 20:  Return

St. Julie’s Tijuana Ministry

Meeting Minutes March 21,2013

Present:  Monica, Frank, Nick, Bob Masick, Joan, Michael, Francesca

Garage Sale

Monica made a plea for help with the following garage sale activities:

1.       Publicity, including putting out signs, passing out flies to the neighborhood weekend of 4-7

2.       Maggis and Nick will help pick up donations, Monica still interested in more help to go to houses and pick up donation.

3.       Frank volunteered to run the hot dog stand during the garage sale.  Joan will see if Val and teens can assist. 

4.       Tijuana Ministry Trailer will be on-site to store donated items.

5.        Need donations.  All parishes should encourage parishioners to donate items.

6.       Need help with set up on Thursday and Friday, April 11-12, and 8-3 on April 13,14 for selling

Pre Build Days

The dates of May 16 and June 1 were tentatively set as the prebuild days at Yerba Buena High School.  Nick will confirm if he can get key and make sure the shop is available for these two dates.  Notify Monica ASAP so the dates can be publicized.

Children’s program

Brian Fanger, Jillian Paist and Theresa Clark have agreed to run the children’s and teens programs.  Joan obtained Nicole Moreno’s program documents for them to use as a guide.  Nicole suggested that she be contacted to meet or discuss over the phone other changes in the actual activities that she hasn’t documented.  Monica has also emailed Estaban to see if he has records from last year.  Theresa, Jillian and Brian can work out next steps.  Theresa has agreed to help document this summer’s activities for the website archive.   They may want to confer with Val Liberty and Sara Vella on the Teen program they initiated last year.

St. Julie’s Roll Out

Monica reported on a successful roll out of this summer’s ministry trip and had several sign ups.  She is working with the St. Julie teens to get them more involved in the ministry, especially fundraising and other support activities if they are not able to travel.  She suggested getting them to help with the Garage Sale and in return she is willing to donate some of the proceeds to the St. Julies teen ministry.

Summer Projects Update

1.        A flat, slant roof is being suggested for all home builds in the future and a design is being documented now.  It is felt that this design is easier to build and is reproducible for those locations where we would like to just replace a roof.  Frank and Nick are going to be finishing the design.

2.       Have still not been able to locate the original drawings used to build the chapel that we wish to expand this summer.  These would be most helpful to locate so that preplanning can be accomplished before we go the TJ.

3.       Still planning to build one complete home and 4 roof replacements.

Finance

Francesca will still be acting as treasurer and any donations should be sent to here.

Leadership

Monica Rising is taking over as Director of the Tijuana Ministry, and Bob Malone will be taking a more active role in the construction programs.

Sign Ups.  Currently have 35 travelers:  9 St.Julie, 19 St. Simon, 4 Resurrection, 1 Holy Spirit, 1 St. James, l  no parish listed.

Next Meeting: Thursday, April 18, 7-8:30pm at Home of Monica Rising (5922 Dunn Ave, San Jose, CA 95123). See our calendar: http://www.tijuanaministry.org/content/tijuana-calendar

St Julie’s Tijuana Ministry

Scouting Trip Report | February 1-2, 2013

Overview:

Five leaders of the St Julie’s Tijuana Ministry (Bob Malone, Monica Rising, Joan Mibach, Jesse Perez and Joanna Thurmann) travelled to Tijuana on February 1-2, 2013 to meet with priests from the San Eugenio Parish in Tijuana, Fr Nick Harding and Fr Joe Dowling, to choose build sites for this year’s mission trip (July 13-20, 2013), and to discuss program resources, finances and logistics.  The group also took time to visit the families, friends and contacts that we have worked with over the past years to continue the goal of building community between parishes of northern California and the people of La Morita in Tijuana, Mexico.  This was a very successful mission trip. Details and highlights are included below.

Our projects for 2013:

During a previous scouting trip in December, several members of the St Julie’s Tijuana ministry looked at a few potential build projects. During this trip, we were able to finalize on most of the projects, except for the last one.

(1)    Expansion of San Francisco Real Chapel: 

There are approximately 1,400 families in this area of San Francisco Real Chapel, and approx. 100-120 families worship regularly at this chapel each Sunday. There is insufficient room for them inside, so they often have to crowd outside. There are ~ 116 children preparing for first communion, and a strong youth group of about 15. On Wednesday, they have a charismatic assembly, Holy Hour on Thursday, mass on Saturday, and RCIA on Sunday. During the week, the chapel is used for youth group, liturgy and music practice and special community events.  This building was here for 5 years. Previously, they had 1 small building which served as a chapel and is now used for catechism. They have an additional structure containing 6 small classrooms for faith formation classes. 

The existing chapel is 35’ wide by 50’ long. We will be adding 34 ft to the 50 ft length, going to the east. So final chapel dimensions will be 35’ wide by 84’ long. This means that the existing caretaker house has to be moved (e.g. up above toward the old chapel/current catechism location). This work will be done by the locals prior to our arrival, so that the slab can be laid. We also discussed the potential for building an additional 12’x24’ structure which will be used for kitchen & concession sales. This would stand next to an existing 12’x12’ bathroom structure.

(2) Home for Mireya Juarez Angeles / Jose Angel Medina (+ 3 daughters, Karla( 10 yr), Nidia( 8yr) and Tania (3 years). This home is near Terraces I location next to the open area.

Mireya cannot walk and doesn’t see well following surgery mid-2012 to remove a brain tumor. Although she is in remission, her left side is very weak and sometimes paralyzed. Her daughters take care of her while the father Jose Angel works in a local factory 6 days a week. An aunt helps a little with meals and house-cleaning. Mireya’s greatest wish is that her children are well.  The current house is made of garage doors with a very bad roof that leaks in all the rooms.

They have ownership of the land. Their lot is 29’ x 50’ on flat, firm ground, with a septic tank, illegal electricity and no drainage. We will build our standard 16’x32’ foot house on a 24’x32 slab, plus it needs to have a small piece of slab from the front door going around to the cement patio on the side of the house (for washer, etc)  and a ramp at the front door for easy wheelchair access.   Handicap accommodations for the bathroom will also be needed.

(3) Roof for Marta Patricia Ibanez / Jorge Castro Quntanilla Terraces (+6 kids)

The family has been on their plot for 8 years, but they do not own the land. In fact, their property stands on a government access road to a future development/housing complex that the government will be building. Therefore, it is possible that as soon as that development starts, their house will be demolished. So we cannot build a full house for them. The floor in this house is new( paid for by the government),  but their roof is in very bad shape and leaking. There are no public services (plumbing, electricity).  Although there is a vacant plot nearby which they could purchase, they do fear that they may not be able to make the monthly payments (they earn 1,200 pesos per month), so they will not purchase it. So for now, we have agreed that we are building them a roof which is like a carport structure over the existing home. The roof structure will be 24’x22’ plus 9 beams. See dimensions below.

(4) Home for EITHER of these two families. This last project has not been decided yet. See comments below.

Guadalupe Salivar (Lupita):  this is a family of 6 living in two small rooms in bad shape. However, they do not own their land. Lupita’s husband makes  800 pesos/month. Ideally, they wish to buy the plot of land nearby and have us build on it. Total price of the land (8 x 20 meters) is ~ 130,000 pesos ($10,000). They do not have the down payment.  San Eugenio Parish is considering a way to help them with the down payment.  They also need to determine whether the family can make the mortgage payments long term.  

Budget figures obtained.

The down payment is ~ 10,000 pesos ($1,000). Property taxes = 390 pesos ($30) per year, if you already own it. If you are still making payments, the property taxes are higher. Utility fees are usually ~ 2,600 pesos ($200) dollars to install water meter, then pay 64 pesos ($5) monthly (for both water and sewer). Power costs 1,500 pesos ($115) to hookup, then 100 pesos ($8) monthly. Usual rent prices are approximately 800 – 1,500 pesos ($61-$115) monthly, excluding utilities. When buyers make a down payment on a house, they receive the bill of sale. Once it is all paid off, they receive the deed (carta).

House at 9129 Durazno Oeste owned by a woman (Adelaida Saldana Estrada) taking care of two adults with mental disabilities (her son and her sister).  The problem here is that we spoke only to the elder sister with mental disabilities and did not speak to the owner, because she was away at work. She has been on the parish build list already for a few years, and other groups have looked at the lot but decided that they cannot build. We have also stopped by this property during our 2012 scouting trip but back then we could not enter the home due to security reasons. However, we saw their house this year and it is a good flat piece of land with easy access. One existing structure toward the left-front of the property is made of brick and could be left standing, while other structures on the property are in bad shape with leaks and we would tear them down to build our standard 16’ x 32’ home toward the back of the lot. We would also need to remove the front cement ‘overhang’ for safety and to move the electrical wire that runs through the bathroom.  More info on this family. x They have lived and owned the land for 15 yrs. They came from Guadalajara to Tijuana for work.  The Owner is Adelaida Saldana Estrada (~ 60 yrs old).   She works in a factory (700/week).  Her son is Gabriel Saldana Estrada (~ 24 yrs old),  who works as a cleaner (500/week).  The Sister isMaria de la Paz Saldana (approx.. late 30s).

(5) Shade structure in Terraces II. We have been using Terraces II as our home site area for the past 9 years.  We run the Mothers’ and Children’s Programs here in July when it is very hot outside. There is currently no shade structure here, so we usually bring our own shade pop-ups which are heavy and cumbersome to bring down, put up and take down. Chris, Jesse and the build leads want to explore building a more permanent shade system/structure, which would consist of cemented beams  and wires surrounding the outside patio area. Tarps or shade covering could then be attached to this structure in the spring/summer-time but removed in fall/winter due to wind and rain conditions.  See the compound from the top in 360 degrees: http://360.io/dUz9gX.  We need to assure the community is open to this concept.

Support Team Needed in Tijuana during July 13-20 trip:

During our trip, we rely on the following resources to be available for us to make the trip a success. With respect to compensation, we pay the parish with a check and/ or cash in US dollars, and the parish pays the resources appropriately in pesos. The following table shows the resources we usually need. We have asked Fr Nick and Fr Joe to provide us the estimated costs of securing these resources for the 2013 trip.

Accounting for 2012 Build:

As in the past, prior to our trip in July, St Julie’s Tijuana Ministry sent $7,500 to Fr Tom. Check was made out to “US Province of Missionary Oblates”. This was to cover all the site preparation and procurement of materials for the build of the 2 homes and the improvement of the school. It’s our understanding from Francisco and team that the entire amount was used and that Francisco gave all receipts to Fr Julio sometime in the fall (Fr Julio originally didn’t know what these receipts were but this was since clarified). We would like to receive an accounting summary supporting the expenditure of this $7,500. Receipt should be sent to Monica Rising (monicarising@yahoo.com). The account summary should ideally be broken out by the following items. This will also help us tremendously with budgeting of future projects:

1.       Site preparation

2.       Foundation

3.       Materials for House Builds

4.       Materials for Improvement of the School for Children with Disabilities

5.       Salaries

6.       Miscellaneous expenses not covered by the above

Finishing bathrooms: 

Monica gave 2 checks (payable to “US Province of Missionary Oblates”) to Fr Joe to cover the finishing of 3 bathrooms (at a cost of $350/each). Fr Joe issued two receipts to Monica. Jesse already talked to Francisco about this work and he will work on it, time allowing, within his current schedule for the parish. The checks were made separately because the 2 bathrooms for last year’s homes will be paid by St Julie’s Tijuana Ministry, while the 3^rd bathroom will be paid by individual donations.

1.       $700 - to finish bathrooms for last year’s homes

·         Home of Yaritza Cruz Mora & Julio Cesar Flores Sotello (plus daughter Yuliana Flores Cruz), residing at 22133 Calle la Fresa

·         Home of Leticia Ruiz Morales & kids, residing at 9038 Petunia

2.       $350 – to finish the bathroom for Bertha Gonzales (for whom we built a home 3 years ago). That cost will be covered by individual donations from Chris Sutherlin, Francesca Paist and Joanna Thurmann.

Other Highlights of 2013 Scouting Trip

Visit to the AIDS clinic:

We dropped off 3 hand-knit blankets made by the St Simon’s prayer shawl ministry especially for the ladies at the clinic. We presented this to one of the ladies who stays there. She thanked us with tears in her eyes.  We also found out that the donation of sewing machine and materials in the summer have been well used, and a couple of the ladies are using it to sew pants. The ladies have a wish-list to receive materials to make curtains and yarn, plus crochet hook and, needles. We also spoke to the men who make dog houses out of scrap wood. They would appreciate receiving any used lumber. So we decided that we will ask Francisco and Benjamin to bring to them the materials from the homes that are taken down in order to build the new houses this summer, and perhaps some of our scrap lumber as well. We continue to stay in partnership with the AIDS clinic through community, financial and materials donations, as well as prayers.

Visit to “Semillas de Dios”, School for Children with Disabilities:

As one of our 2012 projects, we finished off two rooms and all the electrical at “Semillas de Dios”, school for children with special needs. The school is very actively used by 59 children with special needs. School runs Monday – Thursday in two sessions, 9am-11am, 1pm-3pm. On Fridays, a group of children are bussed in from remote areas which would not otherwise be able to travel to the school on their own. We met several of the teachers here, including Rosa Barajas who speaks good English. We have exchanged contact information with her and will work with her to determine the wish-list of supplies and materials that the school may have.

Family visits:

We visited family and friends from previous years.

Rosita/Jose, Vivien, Joel, Carlos/Lupta & Allyson	We visited Joel and  Vivien and Lupita and her baby Allyson, who is Bob and Monica’s god-daughter.   Monica talked to Carlos(Allyson’s Dad) by phone.  They are doing well and Monica got to hold her beautiful god-child for a few precious moments.
Edelmira, Martin Sr., Martin Jr., Nanci, Kayli, Yamili	We built a home for this family in 2011. Edelmira is doing well and still works at the office. Nanci is pregnant with her second child (due in March 2013). Martin and Yamili are also doing well and in school.
Bertha, Neomi, Manuel, Marie, Betty	We built homes for Bertha and her 4 children, as well as Betty and her family, in 2010. Bertha proudly showed us the kids’ report cards; they are doing very well in school. She has a job and all of them are doing well. Vanessa is married now and living in a separate part of town.  Bertha’s daughter Neomi ran over with Manuel to get Yaritza, Julio and Yulianna to come over to talk to us at Bertha’s house. On the way, Manuel fell in the mud and was so mad, he went to his room to play the harmonica (which he does to blow off steam J)  Monica gave more yarn and ties to Bertha (also  from Francesca) so that she can continue sewing.
Yaritza, Julio, Yulianna	We build a home for this family in 2012. Last summer, Francesca (with Bertha’s help) taught Yaritza how to sew and knit scarves. At her daughter’s preschool, one lady complimented her on the scarf and she asked Yaritza to sew her one. Good business! As a result of the confidence that Yaritza got learning to sew with the sewing machine we gave them, she mobilized herself to learn how to drive so that she could transport her daughter to preschool by car whereas before she couldn’t always walk due to her prosthetic leg. Unfortunately, Julio had lost his job as a mechanic because of slow business and was out of work for 1 ½ months, but Edelmira (house build of 2011) helped Yaritza and family with food and provisions during this tough time. Julio is working again now as of last week. We are certainly building community here. All these families are now helping each other.
Jorge, Caty, Marianna, Daniela, Socorro	We built a home for Socorro, her daughter Caty, husband Jorge and daughter Marianna in 2009. (Jorge is one of Rosita’s sons). Socorro had just lost her husband in 2008. But she has recently remarried and is very happy. Meanwhile, Jorge and Caty just had another child, daughter Daniela, who is now 5 months. Jorge and Caty asked Jesse and Joanna to be Daniela’s godparents. The baptism will be celebrated during our July trip. This makes the 3rd baptism that the St Julie’s Tijuana Ministry will be a part of. Bob and Monica, as well as Stephanie and Eddie, are also Tijuana-baby godparents. Perhaps we can rechristen ourselves to be the St Julie’s Building and Baptism Ministry J. God is gracious.
Cesar and Reina Llamas	On our way back toward the Tecate border, we visited Cesar and Reina Llamas who were deported back to Mexico right before our July 2012 trip. They have 4 children who are all US citizens. Members of the Tijuana Ministry and Justice for Immigrants have been working hard with this couple ever since to get their children visas to be able to visit their parents (and they did over Xmas break) and to apply for humanitarian parole for the couple.  We presented them with beautiful photos of the whole family (taken over the Xmas break) so they could have their boys close to their hearts. The couple is living in a retirement property owned by Rosita/Jose and are working at a local market to sustain themselves. The apartment is in a nice and safe neighborhood and they are grateful for all our love, support and prayers. Bob and Jesse helped Cesar figure out how he can hook up the hot water heater permanently. The couple hopes that we can help transport their boys to them again for the summer break.

Discussion with Fr Nick and Fr Joe about the Program:

We talk to Fr Nick and Fr Tom about the needs of the people of La Morita and how best we can serve them in the future. Although we have focused on building complete homes in the past for 1-3 families, bothpriests mentioned that building roof structures as well as room dividers/walls for privacy is also very much needed and could reach a broader community. Fr Nick also suggested building “sensillos” (simple houses) much smaller than the ones we build now.  St Julie’s Tijuana Ministry will take this into consideration in future board meetings to see if/how we could adapt the program to meet these needs.

Investigate Expansion of Mother’s and Children’s Programs to Terraces I

We have been running our Mothers’ and Children’s programs at the same home site location where we stay in Tijuana (Terraces II) for all the previous years. Since it is the home site, it is convenient and easier to deal with logistically. However, we have discussed the possibility of expanding the programs to the Terraces I location, in addition to Terraces II, so that we could build community in that area, as well. The locations are about 2 miles apart. Terraces I is on flat ground, contains more classrooms, wide open spaces and easy bathroom, kitchen facilities. However, it is on a busy street, is more ‘open’ and accessible and therefore has some security concerns, in addition to the logistical considerations of moving resources and materials from home site to program site. No decision has been reached on this yet. When the program leads have been identified, we will discuss this further and finalize plans.

Reflection Program

We discussed various ways to improve upon the reflection program for the 2013 trip. The teens, in particular, have expressed a desire to have a reflection tailored for them. We discussed having local teens from the area come in for a Q&A session about their lives, as well as to take the teens on a tour of the location of the “2008 apparition of the Lady of Guadalupe” for a teen reflection location. We also considered having the baptism and fiesta in lieu of one of our evening reflections, since the relationship-building aspect of the baptism and fiesta is its own sort of reflection of the meaning of the community that we build in service and solidarity to the most poor of North America.

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