NOTES from CLAY: 11 abril 2024

Before we can open, we MUST finish the dining room, security guard house, and final exterior plumbing.

It’s the big push to the finish, fueling our newest special fundraising campaign

We have the new drawings and work plan, tied to budget, which I’m happy to share with those interested. The administrative office is finished out, including a bathroom. Next: internet and a fixed phone.

Administrative, tax, and legal

The Patronato (Board) and the entire team have been working steadily to learn about and put in place the administrative and legal building blocks essential to opening and serving visitors safely and considerately. Not the most exciting, but absolute musts.

We’re registered with the DIF (Social Services) at the national level, and will work with them closely.

The official Manual de Procedimientos is underway. It must be approved by the JAP (for non-profit social services)

We have finished registering with the SAT and now have an RFC (tax number) We made two trips with many documents to Bancomer, and have another scheduled for Saturday, after which we should have bank account.

We have paid for all tramites to be finished with the SAT for us to be able to receive tax deductible donations. This is supposed to get done in under a month.

We’ll be signing a convenio with the state Secretary of Health, and they will give us access to services for migrants.

Communications

Business cards designed by Lucia show all the necessary information quite elegantly. And they show how to donate in dollars through go-fund-me, or in pesos, into our Bancomer account (even at Oxxo if you want to).

The new web site, soon to be launched, will provide migrants themselves information about services and contacts, and will provide ongoing and current information for potential volunteers and donors. If you’re reading this blog post, you’re in!

Community Connections

We continue to connect with, learn from, and work with local and national service providers.

We visited the Vicentinas shelter here in Morelia (it houses 35-40 men and women nightly), and we’re scheduled to meet with the AMANC director next week and the EMAUS director the following week.

The Caritas center for women with cancer, in the Bosque, has been a constant resource for guidance already.

We received six new mattresses, a stove, and another refrigerator from the chapel on the property. In exchange, we’ll fix up their bathroom, then physically separate the properties somewhat, for the benefit of both institutions. After all, we took half of their land!