Proyecto Hermandad was started in 2022 by Mexican-American teens living in San Diego. They reached out to Border Line Crisis Center, a shelter for refugees in Tijuana, to see how they could help. Since then, they have been actively working with leadership there to improve the lives of the refugees.
Proyecto Hermandad has three main parts: Interviews for spreading awareness, aid to the shelter, and events for adolescent refugees.
Storytelling style interview videos are a core part of Proyecto Hemandad. They are used to spread awareness to the refugee problem in Tijuana by humanizing the issue. Through these videos, people can get to know the real people behind the statistics they see on the news.
Shelters all around Tijuana are in desperate need of help, both with money and volunteers. Proyecto Hermandad seeks to bring that help. Through fundraising, we help improve the quality of life of refugees living in the shelters by allowing for repairs and improvements to the shelter. Through volunteering, like in our shelter-wide deep cleaning, we provide much needed support to shelter leadership.
During one of our first visits to Border Line Crisis Center, we noticed that many teens felt left out of the shelter's programming. Activities were either tailored to adults or little kids, so teens fell through the cracks. Proyecto Hermandad seeks to create fun experiences and events for teens at the shelter. This allows them to be distracted from all of their problems and just be kids for a little.