News from Vida Joven/Dorcas House

Vida Joven de Mexico is a foster home/orphanage in Tijuana, Mexico that loves, protects and educates up to 35 children who have been abandoned, abused and neglected. With an enormous outpouring of support from the St. Paul’s community and beyond, the program has been delivering on this promise since 2006. For many years the fundraising mechanism in the US has been known as Dorcas House and the successes, measured in lives impacted across the border, have been numerous. Appropriately on Valentine’s Day in 2015 during Diocesan Convention, the Episcopal Diocese of San Diego voted to formally support Vida Joven/Dorcas House. Thus a non-profit was born and has thrived in its independence.

Due to the on-line nature of our operations and the wide-spread geographic makeup of our board of directors, it has become clear that maintaining an office for Vida Joven is an unnecessary luxury. Our monthly board meetings are now held exclusively at Good Sam in University City, due to its relative ease of access for many board members. In fairly short order a new mail receiving system has been set up and a few file drawers and shelves have been carved out in a home office and, Voila! Vida Joven, while evolving operationally, stays much the same!

We will continue to receive some mail going forward through the Cathedral office. With regular (but less frequent) trips to Bankers Hill, coinciding with a weekly deposit at our bank in Hillcrest and occasional meetings in the area, our close relationship with the Cathedral will continue as we evolve ever farther away from the original home base. Our ability to grow and expand has been possible due to that connectedness for which we are grateful.

I remain a member of the St. Paul’s community through all of these changes - active in the choir and on the Finance and Endowment committees – so my ability to directly serve the Cathedral if/when necessary will not change. These are exciting times in the life of Vida Joven de Mexico as we continue to pursue a better life for the children in our care in Mexico.

Thank you for your continued prayers and support,


Elizabeth Carey
Director of Operations
Vida Joven de Mexico