Bring your group

3 Ways

to build alongside community members in Tijuana. Whether you have one day or one week, your group will gain a deeper understanding of the city, form lasting relationships across cultures, and be part of long-term transformation in Tijuana.

Día de Encuentro

EXPLORE. LEARN.

A one-day experience to get to know Tijuana, meet community members, and see how local leaders are creating opportunities for brighter futures.

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🔭 Visit a community center

👥 Meet students, families, and local leaders

📖 Learn about local needs and solutions

📍 Experience the culture and heart of Tijuana

⏱︎ 1-day trip

Casas de Luz

BUILD. SERVE. CONNECT.

A two-day, all-inclusive home building experience. Work alongside a local family and experience the joy of creating a safer, healthier home together.

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→ Hands-on home building

→ Build relationships with a local family

→ Share meals and cultural experiences

→ See the impact of safe, stable housing

⏱︎ 2-day experience

Vida Compartida

IMMERSE. PARTNER. GROW.

A 3 to 7 day experience to live and serve alongside the community. Go deeper through home building, education, local partnerships, and daily life together.

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🏠 Participate in home building, education, and community projects

👥 Build meaningful relationships with local partners

📖 Share meals and experience daily life in Tijuana

🌱 Explore how you can be part of lasting change

⏱︎ 3-7-day immersive experience

Christian church workers installing the subfloor of a building in a rural area with green hills and scattered rocks in Tijuana, Mexico.

Our History

Starting in the late 1980s, Tijuana’s population surged, and while many families could buy land, few could afford to build proper homes.Tony, the founder of Hogar de los Niños Orphanage, saw this need, and Rod, a lumber company owner from Los Angeles, designed a simple wood-framed house that youth groups with no construction experience could build in just one week’s time.

Youth groups from Washington began coming to Tijuana during spring break to build houses, staying at Hogar de los Niños and working in nearby neighborhoods. As home-building trips to Tijuana grew in the 1990s, there was a clear need for better coordination. In 1997, Homes Without Boundaries was created to support logistics and planning, helping youth groups from across the U.S. serve, connect, and build meaningful relationships.

A young girl sitting on wooden stairs in front of a rustic wooden house, petting a puppy in Tijuana, Mexico. The background shows a wooden wall, rocks, a blue barrel, laundry hanging, and various items.

By 2007, as builders got to know the families they served, it became clear that many children in Tijuana weren’t staying in school. In response, the mission expanded to include education scholarships, an after-school program, and soon after, summer camps, dance classes, parenting seminars, and community events—all growing naturally from the strong relationships built over the years.

With all the growth, the name Homes Without Boundaries no longer fit. In 2011, it was officially changed to Doxa to reflect the expanded mission of housing, education, and community support.

As West Tijuana grew, the need for new homes decreased. By 2017, Doxa shifted to building in East Tijuana, where development remained behind. They partnered with Unidos por Siempre Orphanage and began offering education scholarships there in 2019.

In 2007, the Doxa scholarship program supported 10 students. We now support 140 students annually.

Currently, Doxa has facilitated the building of over 2,500 houses (thereby housing over 10,000 people), provides education scholarships to over 140 kids annually, partners with two orphanages, and operates a community center. Tens of thousands of volunteers from all over the United States have traveled to Tijuana to serve. Lives on both sides of the border have been forever transformed.

Group of young people in a dance studio, some holding colorful scarves, engaging in a dance practice or rehearsal in front of a mirror in Tijuana, Mexico.
A group of children sitting around a table, drawing and coloring pictures with markers, in an outdoor setting in Tijuana, Mexico.

BY THE NUMBERS

1990

First groups build houses in Colonia Pedregal de Santa Julia, Tijuana, Mexico (West TJ).

Partnership with Hogar de los Niños Orphanage to host house building groups.

Homes Without Boundaries 501(c)3 non-profit organization formed in Washington state.

2000

500th & 1000th houses built!

Hogar de los Niños Orphanage undergoes major construction and expansion.

Group of people standing on a construction site building a wooden house frame. Some are on the roof, others are sitting or standing inside the structure, under a clear blue sky in Tijuana, Mexico.

2007

Education scholarship program started in West Tijuana with 10 children.

Education after-school program started with dedicated homework classroom.

2009

50 children enrolled in education scholarship program.

First year of summer camp, which takes place annually during the month of July.

A large group of children from a U.S. based Christian church and a few adults gathered outdoors on a grassy field, posing for a group photo.
A large group of people gathered inside a church or chapel during dusk, facing the front where a cross and cityscape are visible through large windows, while side wall lamps illuminate the interior in Tijuana, Mexico.

2011

Homes Without Boundaries legally changes name to Doxa.

Doxa also incorporated in Mexico as a non-profit organization.

1,500th house built.

100 children enrolled in education scholarship program and summer camp

2015

First groups build houses in Ejido Javier Rojo Gomez, Tijuana, Mexico (East TJ).

Partnership with Unidos por Siempre Orphanage to host house building groups.

New property acquired in West TJ to be future home of education and community work.

2,000th house built.

View from inside a partially built wooden house showing two windows with a scenic landscape of green hills, mountains, and a blue sky in the background in Tijuana, Mexico.

2019

Education scholarship program started in East TJ with 30 children.

Unidos por Siempre Orphanage undergoes facility expansion.

2024

Finalized long-term partnership with Grupo Unidad (Rancho) to be the home base for East TJ house building operations and hosting groups.

Children and adults in maroon shirts participating in a relay race outdoors, with a woman in a sun hat guiding them, on a sunny day in Tijuana, Mexico.
People from a U.S. Christian church standing in line near port-a-potties outdoors in a sunny area, with a red wall and clear blue sky in the background in Tijuana, Mexico.

Would you like to know more?