ABOUT US
Who We Are
Comunidad Para Baja California is a volunteer organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for the indigenous communities of Baja California. We operate as a ‘non-profit startup’, with every program evaluated by its ROI (impact on the Nativo population + the return on our investors’ money and volunteers’ time). Since Comunidad’s administrative expenses are underwritten by contributions from its Board members, 100% of every dollar donated goes directly to the Nativo tribes.
HELPING ACHEIVE LIFELONG VALUE
While our initial constituency is deliberately small (the 2000 members of the Kumeyaay, Pai Pai, Kiliwa and Cucapah tribes), our definition of ‘Comunidad’ is broad, including the people, schools and infrastructure that make up the indigenous communities. Our goal is to stay small and focused, build a sustainable model for improved health care and education, then duplicate in other communities.
Finally, we believe in achievement through partnering-not only with the Nativo tribal council and organizations such as CUNA (focused on the preservation of indigenous cultures) but with a variety of US and Mexican organizations (medical, government and civic). These alliances allow us to leverage our resources, expand our volunteer pool, and achieve maximum ROI for our sponsors and volunteers
Non-Profit Information
Comunidad Para Baja California became incorporated in the state of California as a public benefit corporation in December 2003. We received our official 501c3 status in November 2005. Our EIN is 56-2495229; our DLN is 17053047010035.
Philosophy
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We are driven by the needs of our Nativo clients, not the preferences of our volunteers.
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We take a medical philosophy of ‘symptom to source’, treating the most pressing symptoms first, then tracing those symptoms back to their source.
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We then address these source issues, either through preventive medicine and education or by improvements to the infrastructure.
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We respect the indigenous communities’ dignity, culture and traditions
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We leverage local resources whenever possible
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We work with the Tribal Council to establish priorities, then proceed based on level and quality of community involvement. (Communities provide all labor.)
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We comply with all Mexican government requirements and practices
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We run ourselves as a business, emphasizing organizational efficiency (business plans, MBOs and strict budgets) and ROI (return on investment) of our volunteers’ time and our sponsors’ funds.
Our Goals
Health: Every tribal member should have access to the following:
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Regular health diagnostics and screening to identify chronic diseases and track their progress, as well as specialist treatment for acute cases
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Basic dental treatment and restorative care, screening (X-rays) and preventive care and education
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Preventive care and health education, including:
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Education to encourage healthy lifestyles and prevent chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes and hypertension
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Clinics on women’s health care, drug abuse, neonatal care and basic dental hygiene
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Education: We are committed to providing scholarships to every child who shows the desire and dedication to advance their education beyond the Primario (K-6) level. In addition, we are committed to providing safe and healthy schools with:
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Desks and chairs for each child
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Roofs that don’t leak
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Heaters in each classroom
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Core educational materials (this is not in our original vision statement)
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Basic sanitation and restroom facilities
Partners
It is both part or our operating philosophy and just common sense that Comunidad actively partners with organizations on both sides of the border. With our small size and limited budget, we utilize whatever resources we can: plus, it’s good business and good politics.
Our partnerships are of three types: tribal, Mexican and US. On the tribal side, we work with the tribal councils to identify and prioritize our projects. We don’t enforce our idea of what the tribes need: we listen to them. For their part, they realize that they need to prioritize based on collective need, even if it means that their tribal community’s needs aren’t immediately addressed. And every tribe knows that it needs to provide its own labor for every project that we do with them.
In Mexico
The government rewarded our spirit of partnership and cooperation by awarding Comunidad the keys to the city of Ensenada. In addition to DIF (the Mexican Department of Human Services) and ISSESalud (their Department of Health), we work with the following organizations:
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CUNA: The Native Cultures Institute (CUNA) is a Mexican non-profit association working for the preservation of the native cultures of Baja California.
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Casa Hogar: An orphanage in the town of Zorillo that we have supported for the past ten years. Our team, led by Chief Dentist Larry Tabor, DDS and Bill Rush, completed a dental clinic there that is supported by Comunidad and Flying Doctors. www.flyingdocs.org
In The US
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The 1,000 Smiles Foundation: a non-profit organization focused on care of the less fortunate children in Mexico who suffer from lack of dental care and from maxillo-facial deformities such as cleft palate. 1,000 Smiles gives us the use of their dental clinic in Ensenada twice a year, allowing us to centralize and upgrade the services we provide our tribal patients.
in partnership with the Ensenada chapter, are partnering with Comunidad to develop long-term economic sustenance programs with the tribes. We sponsor bilingual teachers to visit and live with the tribes, where they conduct health, education and infrastructure assessments.