BM Windows Partners with Casa de Luz in Mexico on Building Projects

We wanted to introduce you to a great organization that BM Windows has had the privilege of partnering with for the last several years. The organization is called Casa de Luz, and it is located in Primo Tapia, Mexico, just an hour and half south of San Diego and the BM Windows office in Baja California (between Rosarito and Ensenada).

Casa de Luz, which translates to “House of Light,” was founded in 2011 by Daniel and Aleyda Aguinaga, pastors of La Hermosa, a church in Primo Tapia. Casa de Luz serves the community’s children and families in need through community development, with one of their main goals being to keep families intact.

In this area of Mexico, there are a significant amount of “economic orphans.” These are children who have at least one living parent, but those parents are simply financially unable to care for their children, so they choose to give their children up to an orphanage for care. In other cases, parents, especially single parents, are forced to leave their young children home alone or on the streets, often in unsafe circumstances, while they go to work to try to provide for their children. Helping these families is the reason Casa de Luz was founded five years ago.

At Casa de Luz, they seek to keep families together by providing the support that these struggling families need. Their work includes:

• A Children’s Center that works largely with the children of single-parent families, providing safe childcare so parents can work or further their education

• A Youth Mentorship Program that provides positive role models, homework support, and teaches leadership and life skills to at-risk adolescents

• The Own Your Own Home (OYOH) program that helps families purchase safe, well-built homes

• Business Microloans to help entrepreneurial women start their own businesses

• An Adult Education Completion Program where single mothers can attend classes

• A scholarship program for local youth and adults who wish to further their education at a university

• Personal development classes that help women find meaning and significance in their lives, as well as classes that address physical health

BM Windows was first introduced to Casa de Luz in the fall of 2014, when the organization contacted our owner, Michal Bohm, for a quote on windows for the new Team and Community Outreach Center they were constructing. Michal was so impressed with their work they were doing with low-income children and families in Mexico that he offered to donate all of the windows they needed. The building, which was completed in early 2015, now houses Casa de Luz’s Youth Mentorship Program, a community kitchen, and also provides accommodations for the various short-term service teams that to work alongside the regular staff at Casa de Luz.

Last month, BM Windows once again had the opportunity to partner with Casa de Luz, this time to provide windows for the organization’s Own Your Own Home housing program. The program provides families with a doorway out of poverty through affordable home ownership. Families, many of which are single-parent families, are given the opportunity to purchase homes at a discounted rate, which are financed for a 5-year period through Casa de Luz.

Through the OYOH program, Casa de Luz offers families a “hand up” and not simply a “handout,” giving program participants the sense of pride and accomplishment that comes with home ownership. Participating families also have the opportunity as part of the program to receive life skills training in things like budgeting and home maintenance.

Erin Santos, Co-Director of Casa de Luz, said, “We are so thankful for the incredible generosity shown to Casa de Luz by Michal Bohm and BM Windows. Michal has gone above and beyond in providing Casa de Luz with high quality windows, which have made an enormous difference to our Children’s Center and the families that we serve. Donations like theirs really help to keep our operating costs down, so we can do more with our limited funds to help low income families in Mexico. In addition, the high quality windows given to us by BM Windows really help us achieve our goal of providing safe and sturdy home for the people we serve.”

She added, “Though we try, we cannot adequately express our gratitude for the generous donations that Michal and BM Windows has provided for Casa de Luz. It is not often that you come across business owners that have such hearts of generosity and compassion for the less fortunate. We are very thankful.”

Gary Stephens, the Lead Pastor at Abbotsford Vineyard Church, who is also involved in the leadership of the Children’s Center at Casa de Luz added, “The windows that Michal and BM Windows donated to our program are of a very high quality. We are absolutely amazed, and are very thankful for BM Windows’ and Michal’s generosity. What an amazing company!”

BM Windows is very particular about the organizations with which we partner, and we don’t often give replacement window products away at no cost, but after thoroughly vetting Casa de Luz, we determined that this organization is one we would be proud to partner with to help support the work they are doing with the families in Primo Tapia. We appreciate their kind words and gratitude, but we recognize that we are only a very small part of what they are doing with and for the people of Primo Tapia everyday. The staff members and volunteers at Casa de Luz are doing great work and are true heroes in their community. We wish them continued success and hope they continue their work for a very long time!

If you’d like to learn more about Casa de Luz and their work, you can visit their website at http://casadeluzmexico.com/. If you are looking for a worthy charity to support and would like to join BM Windows in partnering with Casa de Luz, you can do so by sponsoring a child that participates in Casa de Luz’s programs by clicking here, or you can sign up to volunteer to help build a house for their Own Your Own Home program by contacting them at info@casadeluzmexico.com. They are especially in need of volunteers with experience in trades like plumbing, electrical, or carpentry.