For the past three years ServiceRocket has helped support the charity work of Tijuana Minsitry in their efforts to build homes, encourage social justice and extend outreach to children and mother’s in some of the neediest neighborhoods in Mexico. Our support was the inspiration of Rocketeer Joanna Thurman, now a volunteer director within Tijuana Ministry.

Joanna's Journey

I have the privilege of just about everything. Health, family, freedom and relative prosperity as compared to 80% of the world population that lives below the $10/day poverty line.

Seven years ago I decided to start giving back extensively though involvement in a variety of charitable and service organizations, including the Tijuana Ministry. Each year I go down to Tijuana, Mexico during the summer to spend one week building homes for the poor and leading women's and children's outreach programs.

Each summer, our ministry takes about 60-80 volunteers to work on these projects. Last year, we built two homes and finished off a school for children with disabilities. Now 40+ children with disabilities have a chance to attend school there. See our photos.

This year, we will build two complete homes, two roof structures and we will expand a chapel/community center where people must stand outside to participate in events. We will also lead the usual outreach programs for local women, children and teens since there are no summer camps or activities for them.

Our mission goes to La Morita, Tijuana - just 10 miles south of the US border. Approx. 400,000 people live there in dire conditions, many of them migrants from south or central America and various parts of Mexico traveling north. They live in families of five or more in makeshift shanties on dirt floors, with gaping holes through a roof thatched from stray plywood and curtains for doors.

Last week the ServiceRocket office in Palo Alto received a presentation by Joanna, sharing her involvement with the charity the past seven years. Listener's were excited to learn about the good the charity achieves and how they could become involved. While the mission's trip this year leaves in two weeks and is no longer open to new volunteers, Joanna highlighted other methods of involvement both now and in the future.

• Donate to the cause. Submit a contact form (received by Joanna) if you are submitting on behalf of an organization and would like to be recognized.
• Donate items from the wishlist: contact Joanna directly by email if you wish to contribute.
• Consider joining Joanna by signing up to go to Tijuana in July 2014
• Follow the progress of this year's trip and future endeavors on the Tijuana Ministry Facebook Page.

A thank you video Tijuana Ministry shared with us (when we were CustomWare) last year.