Fundación Paso del Norte

Our Mission:

Advance partnerships and initiatives to improve the health and well-being of the people and community of Ciudad Juárez.

Programs and Accomplishments

In 2017, the Fundación had numerous achievements that have expanded opportunities and built relationships that are making a difference in the lives of the people in Ciudad Juárez.

RETO POR LA SALUD (Challenge Fund for Health)

For a second consecutive year, we invited nonprofit organizations in Ciudad Juárez to participate in our matching funds program to support their fundraising strategies and invest in their social initiatives.

In 2017, six different organizations were selected to be part of this challenge and had the goal of raising $25,000 dollars each. Thanks to the support of the Hunt Family Foundation, we granted a matching gift of more than $12,000 to each organization that met its fundraising goal.

Collectively, the participating agencies: Centro de Estudios para Invidentes, Fundación Pedro Zaragoza, Vida y Familia, Patronato Amigos del MUREF, Instituto de Atención Especial para Niños and Espacio Interactivo La Rodadora raised more than 2.9 million pesos, and the Fundación granted matching gifts for more than 1.4 millon pesos. This represents an investment of more than 4.3 million pesos ($231,000 USD) to support health and well-being projects in Ciudad Juárez.

Alianza Contra La Violencia (Partnership to Prevent Violence)

Since 2016, the Fundación established a partnership with the Trust for Competitiveness and Citizen Security (FICOSEC) to launch a joint Request for Proposals for projects addressing family and juvenile violence in the southeastern part of Ciudad Juárez. Throughout 2017, the following projects and programs were supported:

• Youth, families, drug dens, public spaces: disarming violence and developing preventive skills - CASA PROMOCION JUVENIL, A.C.
• I Am Social Redesign - LA TENDA DI CRISTO Y DESARROLLO JUVENIL DEL NORTE
• Gangs – SUMANDO ESFUERZOS POR JUÁREZ A.C.
• Experience the Street: Together for Peaceful Coexistence in Riberas del Bravo – COLECTIVA ARTE Y COMUNIDAD Y CEHLÍDER
• Women´s Networks for Life and Harmony – RED MESA DE MUJERES Y SIN VIOLENCIA A.C.

Juárez En Accion

This initiative aims to promote a culture of community action and social values using play and sports as tools to reach children, youth, teachers and families in Ciudad Juárez. There are three main strategies: Schools in Action, Community in Action and Action Weekend. The professional soccer team FC Juárez Bravos is the official ambassador of this program.

Schools in Action

• This strategy works under the train-the-trainer model. In 2017, 85 P.E. teachers and staff were trained from social programs in a world-renowned methodology developed by Coaches Across Continents to teach them how to use sports for social change.
• We are present in 99 schools and 19 social programs in Ciudad Juárez using the activities and curriculum learned through the training program.
• Through our partnership with the participating teachers, we reached more than 24,000 children in Ciudad Juárez.
• We donated more than 1,000 soccer balls, which are ultra-durable and almost impossible to deflate, to teachers, soccer leagues and nonprofits participating in our program.
• A Steering Committee was formed by volunteer teachers to further extend our curriculum to more teachers and children.

Community in Action

• We participated in Expo Valores, an event held at the Chamizal Park to promote programs and initiatives that teach values and life skills to children and youth in Ciudad Juárez. The event had an attendance of more than 15,000 children, with more than 1,000 children participating in the activities that we offered at our booth.
• The Local Police Department invited Fundación to facilitate activities of our Juárez en Acción curriculum to the children attending their summer camp. This camp is offered to the children of active-duty police officers.
• To celebrate International Peace Day, we organized a mixed soccer match (men and women playing on the same teams) with neighbors of the colonia Lomas de San José to improve and strengthen their relationships as a community. At the end of the soccer match, the participants signed and released white balloons as a commitment to promote peace in their neighborhood.
• We organized visits from our program ambassadors (soccer players from FC Juárez Bravos) with Club de Leones SC and Kairos Kids. The soccer players spent time with the children and gave them important messages about values and life lessons. As part of these visits, we also donated soccer balls to the participants.

Action Weekend

• Every year we invite families, schools, businesses, other nonprofits and the public to participate in our action weekend and help us clean public spaces, organize healthy activities and do charitable work throughout Ciudad Juárez. This year our action weekend was held on September 22 and 23 and more than 7,400 Juarenses participated.
• Registered participants took part in more than 75 projects and activities.
• Of the 75 registered activities, 18 were related to sports and physical activity, 28 were projects for cleaning and rescuing public spaces, 10 were wellness activities and 19 were charitable activities.
• As the closing event of this massive community campaign, the Board of the Fundación, staff, the FC Juárez Bravos team and volunteers cleaned and refurbished the public park in colonia Lomás de San José. We painted walls, removed graffiti, repaired garbage cans and removed litter, the park was then adopted by neighbors who made a commitment to maintain the park in good condition.

Special Events

Wine Tasting Fundraising Dinner at La Custodia de San Pablo

In May 2017, we hosted a four-course wine tasting dinner at a quaint restaurant in Ciudad Juárez. Our invited sommelier, Miguel Cooley, visited us from Mexico City to guide our 80 guests through the art of pairing a delicious dinner with award-winning wines from the Pinesque winery.

“FundRACING for Health” Dinner at Globo Rojo Car Museum

In October 2017, we hosted our largest fundraising event of the year: an exclusive three-course dinner at a private car museum in Sunland Park. The event’s theme was the Formula One races and 170 guests had the opportunity to enjoy a delicious dinner and a tour of the incredible Globo Rojo collection, which includes more than 100 cars and is one of a few privately-owned collections to house a red Ford Model T, XIX century and latest model cars.

El Paso Giving Day

For a second consecutive year, we participated in the community fundraising campaign El Paso Giving Day. This campaign is very important to us because it allows us to promote our work with donors both in Ciudad Juárez and El Paso.

Social Impact Diploma Course

One of our main objectives as a foundation is to promote initiatives that will increase the organizational capacity of programs and nonprofits working in Ciudad Juárez to improve the quality of life of our community. In partnership with Fortalessa and Fundación Cozumel, we the Social Impact Diploma Course for more than 40 leaders and executives of social programs and agencies in Ciudad Juárez.

Financial Statements

The Fundación Paso del Norte para la Salud y Bienestar promotes networks and partnerships that allow us to join forces and leverage available financial and in-kind resources, as well as expertise and methods that have been successfully tested and implemented in different contexts, to meet the challenges of our community in a more comprehensive manner and thus achieve a greater impact. As a result, we have received a positive response from the local and international community, our main sources of funding, as shown in the following graph. The Fundación is committed to stewardship and transparency to ensure that every investment in the Fundación and the community is effective and leads to improved health and well-being.