Agape has been an outreach ministry to the very poor in Tijuana for about 40 years. Some of our members have been making trips to Tijuana for more than 30 years, while some no longer travel and others have never gone on the trips. We currently support five main charities and have another that we no longer support with visits, but provide small Christmas gifts for the 400 homeless men it serves. The longest running are Casa de los Pobres (“home of the poor”) and Hogar Verdad y Vida (“hearth of truth and life”, also called Madres Solteras (“single mothers“) as they care for single teen mothers and their children).
How can you help? There are three ways you can participate in this wonderful ministry:
- Time – Each group gladly welcomes helping hands, drivers with utility vehicles, and those willing to help with planning meetings. Whatever your schedule allows.
- Treasure – Direct monetary contributions are welcomed! You can contribute to Agape by check or cash. Please make check payable to St. John Fisher Church, note Agape on the memo line. You may place the check directly into the collection basket or use a supplemental envelope for checks or cash with your information and place in the collection or drop it off at the parish office.
- Talent – You can donate your time as a volunteer at PV Resale. You can dedicate your hours towards the funds Agape receives from PV Resale’s quarterly distributions.
* Adult Volunteers Only *
Casa de Los Pobres has an extensive outreach program, a medical and dental clinic, and serves 23,000 hot meals
monthly to the very poor. The Franciscan Sisters visit their clients, provide a weekly supply of basic food stuffs, and have a school support program for the children in the families they visit. In addition to the monthly stipend, we give up to $6,000 each year for the education support program, and food and other requested articles when we visit. A few years ago we paid for the materials for repainting their facility and helped them buy a pickup truck.
The teenage mothers and their children at Madres Solteras (Single Mothers) are provided with shelter, food, medical aid. The children of school age are able to attend school while their mothers have access to high school education and help with parenting skills. The facility has been enlarged over the years from one house with bedroom dorms and a shared kitchen to a second adjoining house with several bathrooms, large dorms, a meeting room. Over the years our financial aid has helped the Sisters to install a complete commercial kitchen, remodel a bathroom, a metal safety hand rail on the outside cement steps to the lower level, mattresses and bed clothing, sewing machines, some medical supplies, a new roof. When visiting we take food and cleaning supplies. Capital type projects include $10,000 towards a vehicle in 2022, $3,500 for repairs to the living room and inclusion of a chapel in 2023, and in 2025 they received $15,000 towards the construction of two bedrooms.
Mr. Lynch’s Kindergarten provides a morning kindergarten experience to about 35 children who live by the former city dump. Over the years we have bought a video projector, an all-in-one laser printer and each year with we purchase the complete school uniforms for the children, as well as stockings filled with gifts at Christmas.
Caritas de Dios (“Little Faces of God”) was established in 2007 by two families who could not get care for their special needs children. On land provided by the city, several discarded mobile classrooms given by a school district in San Diego have been refurbished, water has been piped to the facility, bathrooms have been installed and the 125-plus children with disabilities now receive education and care. There is a psychologist, a special education teacher, an aide and help from parents and grandparents who “pay their tuition” with volunteering. The older siblings of the disabled receive day care after school while the younger ones are cared for all day, so the parent(s) may work. The mother and children are
often abandoned. Agape built an enclosed dining room, remodeled their kitchen and helped repair a retaining wall by their athletic field, as well as provided school supplies. Carita de Dios received the following funds in the past few years: $10,000 for repairs to several buildings caused by heavy rains, provided $12,000 to help build their solar energy project to make them independent from the electric company, and in 2025 $20,000 for ground prepartion their primary school rooms repurposed from health clinic mobile buildings.
Hogar de San Juan is an assistance program for homeless men run by Sisters of Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta. While we do not visit them on a frequent basis, each year we do bring 400 toiletry kits to them for distribution at Christmas.
Casa de Cuna (“House of the Crib”) is a Convent and daycare center run by nuns for the children of the working poor. They provide breakfast and lunch as well as classroom learning for about 50 children. Our monthly checks help pay for teacher salaries, electricity, water and other utility bills. Many years ago, Agape coordinated with a Tijuana youth detention center to construct the dining room tables and chairs still in use there. Casa de Cuna received $12,250 for roof repair and eaves for the main building and classrooms in 2023.
In a normal year, we make at least six trips to Tijuana and visit two charities on each trip. Beforehand, we contact them and find out what they need in the way of food, cooking or cleaning supplies, dishware and so forth. On a typical trip we being about $1,000 to $1,200 in food and other items requested by each Charity. Monthly we currently send $2,850 in checks ($34,200/year). Our largest contributor is the Palos Verdes Resale Thrift Shop at $30,000-$35,000, about 75-80 percent of our income.
We resumed our trips to Tijuana in March of 2023. We have received a donation that will enable us to continue to fund capital projects. We hope to continue to cover the monthly checks to TJ with PV Resale distributions based on hours that are dontaed to Agape and donations from parishioneres and other firends of Agape. The powerful emotional experience of warmth and love from these dedicated Tijuana caregivers and the joy in the eyes of the children is truly unforgettable.
Updated 5/4/26
Contact
Office of Evangelization 310-377-4573 ext 126