Santa Ana-Based Nonprofit Corazon Celebrates 35 Years Raising Roofs in Mexico Ron Gonzales - Orange County Register
go to original January 21, 2013

Safety and Corazon - It's safe to come to Mexico with Corazon! (thatsKATCHY)

SANTA ANA, California – Corazón Inc., a Santa Ana-based nonprofit that builds houses for poor families in northern Mexico, is celebrating its 35th anniversary and launching a new program aimed at making it easier for individuals to participate in its work.

The celebration Saturday will be the first with executive direct Jennifer Allen at the helm. Allen, 35, was hired in February, dealing with challenges that the organization has been grappling with in recent years. Those include raising funds, and lingering fears that many Americans have about travel to Mexico.

As executive director, Allen, who had worked in Mexico City for several years, went on house-builds for the first time.

"I was amazed at the volunteers and their and commitment, to get up at 4 a.m. and be part of it," Allen said. "I was touched. I have a very soft spot for Mexico. To move back to Southern California and to see so many people from the U.S. have such a wonderful experience in Mexico is exciting. Especially when you see high schoolers, getting dirty and being with their parents. They get a new glimpse of what the world is like."

Before joining Corazón, Allen had been operations manager for the Mexican Association for Rural and Urban Transformation in Mexico City. It runs community development programs in central and southern Mexico.

Corazón, which in October unveiled a new website, works in seven communities in the Tijuana and Tecate areas of Baja California.

Last year, its U.S. volunteers were involved in about 30 construction projects. It built 19 homes – similar to 2011 levels. The other projects included room additions, drywall, painting, roof repair and bathroom additions and repairs. In Mexico, volunteers from Corazón supported communities engaging in repair projects. A Mexican nonprofit has been established, which last year received about $3,000 in government support.

Typically each home-build involves a group of about 50 volunteers from a church or civic organization. Each group provides $7,600 for their building project. Smaller projects may take 20 to 30 volunteers. The nonprofit has built some 1,500 houses.

Fund-raising for those groups has been challenging, said Allen, a Santa Ana resident.

"On the whole, we can get enough volunteers to build," she said. "We have a stable source of volunteers who are excited and willing to go down. But for them to raise money is where the challenge is. We're looking for new funding sources, new leads in order to increase the number of house builds."

Under a new "Up on the Roof" program, individuals who want to take part in house-building can contribute $200 toward a project to take part.

Besides home-building, it offers tutoring and recreational activities to students, as well as job-training classes for adults.

It also provides financial support to Mexican students. Some 300 students, ranging from elementary to college, received aid of $50 to $100 to help them continue their studies. Even in public schools, Mexican students must pay for uniforms, books and registration fees. Costs per year can range from $250 for elementary students to $2,000 a year for college. The money comes from donations, and the organization is seeking a volunteer who could resurrect a program that matches sponsors to individual students.

The group is still dealing with fears many Americans have of travel in Mexico because of reports of violence among its drug cartels.

Corazón has a perfect safety record, and works to maintain it by organizing caravans of volunteers, equipping travelers with walkie-talkies so they can stay in touch with each other and providing escorts. A house-build takes place in a day, so volunteers can leave Mexico before dark. Also, some groups rent a bus because for some Americans it's nerve-wracking to even drive in a foreign country, she said.

"Crime has increasingly gone down," Allen said. "But unfortunately people get really nervous about what they hear."

Treasurer Don Mersch, 74, of Newport Beach says he'll never forget his first home-build in 1991. At the end of the day, a family with three to four kids who had been living in little more than a tent got the keys

"You get the benefit that you've really helped someone," he said. "I always tell people, 'It's a wow.'"

Contact the writer: rgonzales@ocregister.com

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