North county Rotarians help build six homes in Mexico
Rancho Bernardo members join others from region for effort
By Elizabeth Marie Himchak
RANCHO BERNARDO
Six families in a rural area of Mexico will start 2022 in new homes, thanks to the efforts of Rotary International. Earlier this month, Rotary Club of Rancho Bernardo and Rancho Bernardo Sunrise Rotary Club members joined forces with fellow Rotarians throughout District 5340 (San Diego and Imperial counties) and District 4100 (Baja California, Mexico), high school and college students in the service organization’s Interact and Rotaract clubs.
Volunteers build 6 homes for impoverished families in Tijuana
The volunteers gathered in Chula Vista to build six homes for impoverished families in Tijuana. Next, the ready to assemble homes will be driven to east Tijuana.
Ariana Cohen
CBS News 8 San Diego
Published November 12, 2021
More than 120 volunteers from across the country gathered in Chula Vista to build six homes in one day for impoverished families in Tijuana. “People literally have dirt as floor. It’s inhumane and right across the border. It’s really neighbors helping neighbors and doing something good for people in need,” said Paula Claussen, CEO and President of San Diego non-profit, Project Mercy.
Hammer Time: Project Mercy and Its Volunteers Have Built, Donated 1,600-Plus Homes
Project Mercy has constructed more than 1,600 homes in more than 20 years
7 News San Diego
By Joe Little
Published June 18, 2021
The hammering started in a dusty lot in Chula Vista around 9 a.m. It didn’t stop for several hours as dozens of volunteers put together walls, stairs and roofs for six homes. The homes will eventually be assembled for six families in Tijuana. The volunteers don’t know the families. They’ll likely never meet them, either. “It touches me deeply,” Paula Claussen said. “I have a hard time not crying here.”
Volunteers are building homes in Chula Vista for Tijuana’s poorest residents
Project Mercy Baja has been building homes in Tijuana since the early 1990s.
San Diego Union Tribune
By PHILLIP MOLNAR
APRIL 24, 2021
Chula Vista’s Otay Ranch is home to the most homebuilding in the region, but a project Saturday saw a batch of homes constructed there shipped across the border.
Project Mercy Baja, a roughly 30-year-old nonprofit, led a group of around 85 volunteers in building six homes to be sent to parts of eastern Tijuana where some of its poorest residents live.
The nonprofit has built more than 1,600 homes in Tijuana since forming in 1991. The small wooden houses — typically around 360 square feet — go to families that live in ramshackle housing made of spare parts and usually lacking roofs. The new homes only take about a day to construct.
“They get a solid roof, a front door,” said Project Mercy founder Paula Claussen. “You can’t explain the feeling of joy from people just getting these basic necessities.”
Paula Claussen named CNN Hero
June 10, 2016 – Twenty-five years ago, Paula Claussen’s friend invited her to make the short trip from her home in San Diego, California, across the border to Tijuana, Mexico, to donate clothing to people in need. Claussen didn’t expect that day to change the course of her life.
Escaya and Project Mercy Team Up to Give Back
January 2, 2020 – On November 9th, Project Mercy and a group from Klemmer & Associates called “Heart of the Samurai” came out to Escaya and constructed wall panels that will be used to build six houses south of the Otay Mesa border!
Local Organization to Build House for Poor Family in Tijuana
May 11, 2019 – The San Diego-based International Relief Teams will leave for Tijuana, Mexico, Saturday to build a home for an impoverished family living in a makeshift shelter in an informal settlement area. IRT volunteers are traveling to Colonia Fuentes del Valle with members of Project Mercy to assist the family.
Project Mercy eChievement award from eTown.org
2018 – Project Mercy builds basic but sturdy houses for the poorest families in the outlying neighborhoods, or “colonias” of Tijuana, Mexico.
Housin and Hope to Those in Need in Mexico
March 3, 2017 – Recipients of the Project Mercy housing program are chosen based on three criteria: need, length of time in the program, and the amount of “sweat equity” given. “We ask the residents to work on at least four houses for their neighbors prior to receiving their own. This draws people together and promotes a sense of community,” stated Paula, who added that exceptions are made for single mothers and disabled persons.
Project Mercy Home Building Tijuana
For over 15 years Gary Stemple has organized teams from Old Mission Rotary to fund and build houses with Project Mercy. The goal of Project Mercy is the improvement of basic living standards and quality of life for impoverished families who live in squalid conditions in the shantytowns east of Tijuana, Mexico.
La Jolla Community Church
April 25, 2018 – Project Mercy has been improving the lives of the poorest and needy in the outlying neighborhoods of Tijuana since 1991. The San Diego non-profit constructs basic sturdy homes for the poorest families in the outlying neighborhoods of Tijuana, Mexico. La Jolla Community Church participates by sending members from the “Mexico House Building” with Project Mercy. The Mexico House Building team has built over twenty homes in Tijuana over the years, including their participation in Project Mercy’s Baja Challenge.
San Diego ABC News Feature
2006 – Baja Challenge featured on San Diego ABC News 7.
San Diego Union Tribune, September 10, 2006
Baja Challenge: Homes changing lives
North County Times, January 20, 2002
North County residents build houses, dreams
North County Times, January 4, 2002
Group builds homes for Mexico’s poor
San Diego Union Tribune, September 23, 2001
Volunteers build homes for Tijuanans
Los Angeles Daily News, March 13, 2001
Helping the poor in a concrete way
San Diego Union Tribune, November 19, 2000
Mission of mercy under way
North County Times, November 18, 2000
Volunteers to build shelter for Tijuana’s poor
San Diego Union Tribune, January 26, 2000
In Tijuana, babies die from cold
San Diego Union Tribune, December 12, 1999
Holiday comes early to colonia where the wish lists are long
San Diego Union Tribune, October 3, 1999
Project Mercy builds homes across border
San Diego Union Tribune, November 28, 1999
It’s home, but it’s a death trap | Tijuana inspectors warn residents
San Diego Union Tribune, November 24, 1998
It’s homes, sweet homes in Tijuana | Volunteers build better lives for needy
San Diego Union Tribune, November 22, 1998
Quality of their Mercy not strained | Students help build homes in Tijuana
San Diego Union Tribune, March 18, 1998
Rebuilding their dreams | Drowning victims had plans for a better life in new home
San Diego Union Tribune, January 17, 1993
8 die in Tijuana mud — dam spills feared | 10,000 left homeless; evacuations ordered