SAN DIEGO – June 23, 2016 - A team of volunteers sent by San Diego-based International Relief Teams (IRT) will build a home for a poor family outside Tijuana on Saturday, June 25th. In partnership with Project Mercy, 25 volunteers will begin and complete the construction of a house for a family of five 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, land payments, 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 young family receiving the new house, a single-story 16 x 20 structure with an outhouse, was selected by the community themselves. The mother is a homemaker, the father is a traveling vendor making $75 a week and their three children are 11, eight, and six years old.
IRT has been building homes for poor families in Tijuana, in partnership with local organizations, for the past year. This is the second of four teams IRT will send to Tijuana throughout 2016 to build homes in the Fuentes del Valle community.
Contact:
Jenna Montgomery, Communications Manager
jmontgomery@irteams.org, 619-284-7979
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.
