“Building Homes, Creating Community” Pilgrimage
Help a Family Build a Home!
Come help build a home with us! UUJM CA’s Immigrant Justice Action Team is partnering with Casas de Luz and the Mt Diablo UU church to assist a family in building a home. Team up with 20-25 other UU congregants across the state this coming Indigenous People’s Day weekend – October 10 – 13, 2025.
For the past three years, UUJMCA has partnered with Casas de Luz to provide a home for a family living in Tijuana, Mexico. Casas de Luz, a non-profit with UU roots, has organized building small homes in Tijuana and San Diego for 20 years. Between registrations and donations, the total cost of this trip is $14,000. Your support helps keep a family housed and secure.
Local master carpenters guide the project and there are jobs at every skill level to choose from.
IMPORTANT: You will need a current passport or passport card to travel to Mexico.
Please contact Mark Chase markc@uujmca.com for more information.
Info from Past Pilgrimage to the Border (April 4-7, 2024)
CLICK HERE FOR FOR REFLECTIONS, PHOTOS AND VIDEOS!
In partnership with Casas de Luz & UU Refugee & Immigrant Services and Education (UURISE), we are excited to commemorate another successful House Build project for UUs and UU-aligned individuals interested in engaging with the realities of immigration at the California border.
During our visit in early April, 2024, we worked together to make real impact for one family in an emerging community just south of our California border in Tijuana.
This year, we built a home for “Carmen, a single mother, works at a gas station. She is the only support for her children and she cannot build since she pays rent and monthly payments for her land and it is not enough. She has no family in Tijuana and her children’s father does not assist with expenses.”
Watch our Orientation Video below to learn more about how to prepare and what to expect at future events. Please note, this video was originally created for the 2023 House Build project, but the content remains relevant for future House Build projects.
General Information from April 2024
We will caravan from San Diego to Tijuana on Thursday afternoon to setup our accommodations. We will be staying at Casa Hogar La Gloria, a local orphanage, where we will be provided dinner and breakfast each day. From Casa Hogar La Gloria, we will make our way back and forth from the home build site and Border Church at Friendship Park.