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SAN DIEGO VOLUNTEERS BUILD A HOME IN ONE DAY FOR TIJUANA FAMILY

August 25, 2016
Press Release

SAN DIEGO – August 25, 2016 - A team of volunteers sent by San Diego-based International Relief Teams (IRT) will build a home for a poor family in Tijuana on Saturday, August 27th.  In partnership with Project Mercy, 25 volunteers will begin and complete the construction of a house for a family of four that currently live in a shelter made of scrap material in an informal settlement community.

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Colonia Fuentes del Valle is home to 150 migrant families, most from central Mexico, searching for better opportunities. The cost of living, school expenses, and low wages often leaves these families with insufficient funds to build houses – leaving them exposed to the elements and susceptible to disease. The community has no electricity, running water, sewer lines, schools, medical services, or social facilities.

“Life is very challenging for these poor families,” says Barry La Forgia, IRT Founder and Executive Director. “IRT is dedicated to improving the quality of life for our neighbors in Tijuana and we are proud to give this family a safe place to raise their children.” 

The single-story 16 x 20 structure with an outhouse will change the lives of the young family receiving the home. The single mother makes $57 a week selling beauty products and her three children are nine, six, and four years old. 

IRT has been working to improve the lives of poor families in this community in partnership with local organizations for the past year. In addition to building homes, IRT is also working to install running water at each home and to build a school in the Fuentes del Valle community.

San Diego-based International Relief Teams works to alleviate the suffering caused by poverty and disaster around the globe, from the forgotten corners of the world to right here at home, by sending volunteer teams and medical supplies to make immediate change for the world’s most vulnerable people. For more information visit: http://www.irteams.org. Also see us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

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