St. Joseph's Home for special needs children is home to over 15 children. Many of these children would not have any other place to live, were it not for the loving care of this community.

A nun from the Sisters of Divine Love, Sr. Monserrat, runs the home.

Capstones is the main financial support for St. Joseph’s. Capstones provides housing, tuition, and medical funding for children there with AIDS and disabilities.

In March of 1997,parishioners from St. Jerome’s Catholic Church in Jerome, Idaho became aware of a serious need at St. Joseph’s Home. In June of that year two families traveled to Tijuana to investigate and do what they could to help. That work has quickly stretched well beyond those humble beginnings to include people from across Idaho and even a few from California and Utah. This effort has made an incredible difference in the living space for these wonderful people!

The house used for this ministry is small (about 1300 square feet) for fifteen people to live in. In 1997, when this started, the house was in terrible condition, needing an extensive remodel to make it safe and livable.



Since that first trip in June of 1997, much has been accomplished. New flooring (including structural in some cases), replacement of the wiring for much of the home, a new roof and rafters, dozens of gallons of paint, many light fixtures and doors, kitchen cabinets and sink, pantry shelves, a water heater and a washing machine were all added to the house. Much also has been done on the rest of St. Joseph’s grounds. A two story building was constructed to help add space for their needs. The downstairs is a classroom (completed Nov. 2000) with a dormitory and bathroom upstairs (completed Nov. 1999). A large storage shed was built in January of 2002 along with a separate bathroom built just off the play area in November 2002.

Work at St. Joseph’s will continue to be the first priority. We have committed to maintain and enhance their environment into the future. Generally, we anticipate it will be more of maintenance from here on instead of major construction. St. Joseph’s Home for Children has been physically TRANSFORMED!

On most mission trips the women in the group stay in the dormitory at St. Joseph’s. This is our base of operation in Tijuana and the Sisters and children always make us feel so welcome and even part of their family.