MORELIA MIGRANT SHELTER - NOW OPEN!

OFFICIAL OPENING WAS OCTOBER 30! We finished Module One - for up to 25 migrants (more info below). Dining room and security/interview cubicles are finished. Now donations will go toward operations. Each migrant that we house will require food and other consumables, and there are many other operational costs. Our short term goal, to operate for the first two months, is $6,000. Gofundme, added to Morelia fund-raising, has helped immensely. THANK YOU! We are receiving no government or church money. Recent political events make this shelter (in a city of 800,000 people and the only migrant shelter in the state) more important than ever. We are responding to change, and, as much as we can, we WILL help.

Thousands of migrants pass through Morelia, Mexico each year. Heading north, trying for an appointment with US Border control. Heading south, deported from the US to Mexico, though they may be Haitian, Venezuelan, Cuban, Honduran, Guatemalan, with no contacts at all in Mexico. They may be in limbo, circling city to city in Mexico, waiting for family, trying to decide next steps.

Until the Albergue Pro Migrante Morelia opened, there was no shelter for them in the whole state of Michoacán. No safe place to rest, to pause, to get food and water for the children, or help with transit, or support through the trauma of forced migration.

Next year, construction will continue, to accept 25 more in the second phase, ultimately offering housing and respite for up to 100 migrants. This is no small undertaking, first, for construction, and now, for meeting ongoing expenses.

For two years, everything has been done by volunteers. Through local, Mexican donations and volunteer labor, plus support through GFM outreach, we now have:

Dormitories (with beds and bedding for 25), with bathroom/showers completed; Kitchen, equipped; Dining room (doubles as day room); Security and interview building; Equipped administrative office, with Internet; Legal and administrative organizational development and documentation at national, state, and city levels; clothing and washing machines, etc.

We constantly are collecting funds and commitments from the local Morelian community to support the ongoing expenses of sheltering migrants, with care and dignity, for up to 5 days. Many are smaller, monthly donations -- 200 pesos, 500 pesos, 1000 pesos per month. But they all add up to a funding stream we can dedicate to paying monthly bills. Please contribute to this fund. We keep very careful records on every peso spent. Visit us at alberguemigrantemorelia.org and subscribe to our newsletter (be sure to follow up your subscription by immediately going to your email to confirm the subscription).

7-26-24 The Morelia Migrant Shelter - Albergue Sagrado Corazon Pro Migrante will be the first migrant shelter in the state of Michoacan, Mexico. Tens of thousands of migrants come through Morelia (pop. 800,000) yearly, and we will be here to house the neediest, with safety, cleanliness, food, and dignity. For nearly two years, we have been developing every element of building and equipping, legality, training, and financing before opening, though we have been helping many migrants all along. We will open in the Fall of 2024, already fully equipped and staffed to help 25-50 migrants.

5-12-24

In the last ten days we have collected 1,175 of the 6K (of a total of 26K) we need to build our dining room and security / interview section. Thus, in total, we still need 4,825 on this page and 328,000 MX in the Morelia bank account to finish the last rooms. The main activities for 4-30 through 5-12 have been:

The Procedures handbook is nearly finished. We have prepared rules and procedures, and immediately are learning, e.g., from the experiences of the last ten days housing people.

Our web-page has advanced - alberguemigrantemorelia dot org, and we soon will open the sections on information for migrants and volunteers. Please go there and subscribe to get info.

We are now installing the 2 washing machines, temporarily, in the back part of the kitchen, to wash the sheets and towels of the 18 migrants that came through and stayed with us. They will permanently be installed in our laundry house (already in place) when we have a security guard hired.

We have installed telephones and computer/printer in the office, and bought fixed and cell phones for the administrator.

We will soon print the business cards that we will distribute with our contact and donation information.

We have visited administrators and directors at the Vicentinas albergue in Morelia (40 years old, houses families who come to Morelia for health care), AMANC (20 years old, helps kids with cancer and their families), Emaus (houses families who come to the children’s hospital in Morelia), and a government run albergue in Villa Madero to receive coaching.

Once our accountant has us certified as a tax-deductible charity, we will put in our first applications for grants from businesses here, starting with MERZA and Home Depot.

There are many more administrative tasks underway, including getting our municipal permit and our Protection Civil permit (fire extinguishers, kitchen cleanliness clearance, etc.). This week we will also now contract our professional fumigator, so that bed-bugs don’t become a problem, etc. We will also again be meeting with Bancomer to finalize our list of where we can receive donations.

4-29-24 After 8 months, we are ready to receive donations. We haven't opened, but we kept a family of 7 Venezuelan migrants yesterday and a family of 11 Ecuadorians comes in tonight. The drawing and budget for the dining room and security/interview room explained below on 4-15) show here. Our operational payouts will be low until that part is finished. Thanks to everyone. You are all needed. Clay

4-15-24

The last physical thing we need is the dining-room (and place to sit during the day) and the security guard and interview cubicle. That will cost about $26,000 US, which we will collect and spend in three chunks of about 30%, 30%, 40%. Clay can send budget, architectural drawing and work plan (8 weeks of construction) to you. Most of the money will be raised in Morelia, but contributions to this page will be very important.

Our efforts have been high energy and constant, since Fall, 2022. Updates have been from Clay’s e-mail, but now will be posted on our blog, at our new draft, working-copy, in-progress web-site. Recent info is repeated, below. We have learned that we must do a lot of paperwork and planning before we open, or we won’t last long, and that even now we can’t open yet. These photos show you that dorms for the first 25 people, are finished - everything is solid, well-planned, secure (next 25 people will go on second floor of same building.) Kitchen and administrative offices are close to finished.

You are always welcome to visit us at the new shelter site, or to write Clay with all of your questions or set up a phone or Zoom call.

Background: This is the ‘SHORT HISTORY’ from our new, unfinished web page.

In Fall of 2022, the Bishop of Michoacán asked Padre Javier to start the church program that helps migrants — Movilidad Humana — for Michoacán.

Padre Javier and his compadre, Pedro, decided to rehabilitate an abandoned building at Javier’s parroquia, Juan Bosco, to be a migrant shelter. They also started helping migrants who were stranded in Morelia, with food and housing.

To fix up the shelter, they collected about 250,000 pesos, with contributions, dances, etc., in the parroquia. In late November 2022, Olga, Juan Carlos, Pantoja, Miguel, Clay and others from around Morelia joined the effort. Money and goods were also gathered to help about 200 migrants passing through in the last year (many of you who contributed!). The Morelia ex-pat community and the gofundme page put in 350,000 pesos for the construction during early 2023.

Our group then formally coalesced as a charitable non-religious foundation: Albergue Sagrado Corazón Pro Migrante I.A.P. It is formally registered with the SAT.

In winter of 2023, another 90,000 pesos, and several heavy plumbing items and appliances were donated towards finishing out the first dorms and kitchen for the use of 25 migrants. Contributions of 25 beds, mattresses and bedding came from the UN.

The new shelter committee now has five permanent members, about sixty people who have physically visited and donated, and about a dozen volunteers who often attend the weekly meetings and constant activities.

Now the shelter is a non-religious charitable organization, and the land has been ceded on a 20-year rent-free contract by the church. Because the local chapel helped, the shelter is named Albergue Sagrado Corazon Pro Migrante. The project receives no church money, but will be collaborating hand-in-hand with Movilidad Humana, Caritas, and many governmental and civic bodies. We will always need to raise our own money and resources, from individuals, businesses, and fund-raising activities.

These were the LAST TWO E-MAIL UPDATES. They are long and were not posted here.

Enero 12, 2024

This update will not come close to telling you all that is going on in getting the shelter up and running. First, It is important for me to acknowledge that a number of people are being generous with their time, with information, and with resources. Just in the last three weeks about a dozen ex-pats have pitched in with a. meetings (2 three-hour meetings about organization of many types of volunteers), b. two brand new toilets, and someone to help tote them around, c. about 125 kilos of canned food (no, we are not ready for more yet) d. donations (no, we still are not formally asking for them), e. an offer to put us in a will (but we unfortunately weren’t an IAP yet), f. links to local activism that is already underway – especially for helping families that are broken up by deportation, and g. lots of verbal encouragement from those who want to know how it is going and to volunteer (e.g., with fund-raising).

UNICEF still didn’t bring the bunk-beds. If we don’t have them by Tuesday, we intend to go another direction.

Headway:

1. We have now registered our IAP (official charitable status) with state government. We must now clear it through the SAT so that we can have an RFC and a bank account, hire our accountant, and receive Mexican tax-deductible gifts.

2. Our comodato is signed. We are in complete control of the property for 20 years, rent-free. The church is the grantor of the lease.

3. We have had formal meetings, at the shelter site with officials from: Instituto Nacional de Migration (federal), Secretaría del Migrante (state), the Fiscalia (state prosecutors), Caritas (church), UNICEF (United Nations, they are re-promising bunk beds, which got diverted from us last time), ACNUR (United Nations for refugees), and the Junta de Asistencia Privada (state, which will always coach and oversee us as a charitable institute). We have also met with the head of the state Secretaría de Salud and the national head of ACNUR. All have been very encouraging. They want us to get underway ASAP, and we want them to help us and collaborate well. We will be signing convenios with most, probably all.

Will have organized volunteer program. I cannot yet give you a thumbnail projection of income/outgo. Next week we will get a two-day training from experts (about migrant shelters) coming in from Mexico City. More soon. Clay

4/2/24

Our fundraising has been on pause while many other necessary steps were taken, so that we can open a well-planned shelter. In a few days we will again begin to accept donations here. Thanks for all you do. There will be a more complete explanation here soon. Clay

9/5/23 5:00 PM

Thanks, everybody. Some of the giving was on-line, and some was by direct transfers and cash that folks handed me to put into the account. We reached our goal of $2,790. We had a several hour meeting today and have another scheduled for 9/7/23. We need to get the interior doors, kitchen items, and the solar water heater up, register with the state, finalize operating rules, and get our personnel going. Still aiming to open next month!

8/27/23 4:00 PM

Update on Morelia Migrant Shelter

Will try to keep this short, but answer the questions you’ll have.

1. Thieves stole our copper wiring. We fixed it, but are now short on funds to install the interior doors, install some kitchen items, and put up the solar water heater. We need US $2,790 more. [This amount, plus US $1,845 that we had received on gofundme more than a month ago, equals the US $4,635 you see as a total new goal on the gofundme page.]

Gofundme only gets 2.9% (essentially, that’s what they pay the credit card clearer). This will be MUCH easier. The money you donate goes to my account, and I deposit it with Movilidad Humana here in Morelia. The church doesn’t keep one penny on this project.

2. After that, for our operating budget, to run from Oct. 1 - Dec. 31, we intend to turn to government, church, and NGO sources. A bare-bones budget, assuming 25 migrants every night, will be between 38-50 thousand pesos per month (food, gas, water, electricity, director, cook, security). We are working hard to knock on the right doors at the right times. I follow what Pedro, Javier, and Olga tell me to do on this count; timing is everything.

3. We DO have plans for how volunteers and ongoing donors of goods will be organized, but there is much detail to be worked out. Many of you have been powerfully involved for years; you will continue to be needed and welcomed.

4. Pedro, Javier, Andrea Michelle, and many others (locals and ex-pats) are solving IMPORTANT new elements constantly. UNICEF has officially signed on for bunk beds, bedding, and several other items. We are approaching various government and international aid agencies. Officially, the shelter will be independent (with a strong link to Movilidad Humana of the church), and a permanent rental (free) contract for the land and building from the church. The shelter will be una Institución de Asistencia Privada (IAP), giving us tax-free status and giving our donors tax deductible advantages in Mexico and in the US.

5. In the photos, you can see the gathering we had on August 19. There were 35 people total. The directors group (which also includes Miguel and Pantoja, who contribute plenty and seldom miss a meeting) meets every week for intense 2-3 hour sessions and all of its members are putting in hours each week. Andrea Michelle is the full-time secretary, working for Movilidad Humana. No one else is paid.

6. I will meet you at the site, or take you there, pretty much ANYTIME. Just ask. Probably Pedro and Javier and others will meet us there also.

Gracias compas. Clay

8/26/23 9:12 AM

We are re-opening account for a short while, to allow contributions. Thieves stole our copper wiring. We fixed it, but are now short on funds to install the interior doors, install some kitchen items, and put up the solar water heater. We need $2,790 more, so I changed the total goal to 4,635 (the first 1,845 came in earlier as part of our original 350,000 peso [for the ex-pat part of the project].) Clay

8/25/23 UPDATE

MORELIA MIGRANT SHELTER MEET & GREET

Saturday, August 19, 35 of us met at the new site.

Parishioners, directors, donors, etc.

We are doing final elements of Unit One (for 25 migrants).

Opens in October!

MORE NEWS TO FOLLOW SOON.

WE HAVE MET OUR GOAL OF 350,000 PESOS IN DONATIONS TO THE BUILDING OF UNIT #1 (SOME MONIES CAME IN BY WAY OF DIRECT DEPOSITS AND CASH GIFTS)! WE EXPECT TO HAVE UNIT #1 FINISHED AND PROTECTED WITHIN TEN DAYS NOW. THE COORDINATING COMMITTEE WILL BE MEETING EARLY NEXT WEEK TO REPORT / PLAN ON HOW TO BEGIN TO OPERATE. I WILL PUT INFORMATION ABOUT PROGRESS ON THIS PAGE!

THANK YOU ALL SO VERY MUCH. IF YOU HAVE NOT ANSWERED ONE OF MY E-MAILS, I MAY NOT HAVE YOUR E-MAIL, TO KEEP YOU INFORMED. PLEASE WRITE, SO THAT I CAN (ONLY SO OFTEN, SO AS NOT TO OVERWHELM YOU) LET YOU KNOW HOW IT IS GOING.

CLAY SLATE

NEW PHOTO - TAKEN 7-6-23. PEDRO IS SEALING OFF THE SECOND FLOOR ABOVE THE KITCHEN SO THAT WE DON'T HAVE WATER DAMAGE IN THE NEW UNIT #1.

My wife Dorian and I migrated to Morelia in 2007. I am part of the committee building Morelia’s first migrant shelter. About 2 million migrants with few resources pass through Mexico yearly, from Latin America, from Mexico itself, and from more distant countries. Most are headed to the US; some want stay in Mexico. There is also migration southward for many deportees. They are people of all ages (30-40% children), with one thing in common: they all are doing what they think is best for themselves and their families.

Morelia must have a permanent, safe shelter for its tens of thousands of yearly migrants. The shelter will provide people with a safe place to rest, eat, clean up, use wifi, do laundry, and get support while figuring out their next steps. Our new shelter location is in a quiet neighborhood about a mile from the Morelia bus station. It’s a clean, strong building in a really restful spot, with outdoor space, and an enormous ancient shade tree. This is a true community project, lead entirely by Mexican folks (the group leaders, Pedro Beltran and Padre Javier Corral Piña, started the effort) who live nearby (neighbors, clergy, church members, students, community based organizations, civil engineers, etc.) We ex-pats have collected 283,000 of our goal of 350,000 pesos (approx. $20,000 US). Other funds / resources continually arrive from many local sources. We intend to have the rooms, kitchen and bathrooms for the first 25 people up and running soon. When all four modules are done, we will have enough room for 100.

Your donations will go to things like:

Paying the salaries of the electricians, carpenters, plumbers, etc. working on the project.

Purchasing bathroom fixtures ($270 will get one of the five toilets we still need to purchase!), flooring, lighting, electrical wires, ironwork, bathroom stall separators, two roof top water tanks, solar water heater.

UNICEF has committed to help a lot with furniture and maybe kitchen appliances. For now, we don’t need in-kind donations. Later, we will. We will also have a volunteer program, with good training provided.

Thank you for considering this. Please feel free to pass it along, especially to those ex-pats who live in Morelia and Patzcuaro. I’m happy to answer any other questions - clayjrslate at gmail. If this isn't your favorite donation platform, but you still want to give, let me know.

Clay Slate