City of Joy Rivergirl, or Jim, I wonder if you could direct us to more about the "City of Joy" charity work: I don't know if I may be confusing what the OP is talking about with a charity I've heard works with battered women, under the umbrella of the Catholic Church, physically located on the highway to Merida. Perhaps there is no connection, or I'm confused about these minimal details I've just mentioned.
The City of Joy has a number of different projects and homes. The basic concept is that City of Joy Foundation provides the building, infrastructure and some oversight (I think), then they recruit different groups (often church groups but sometimes other charities, like Caritas) to come and run that home or project for them. The point is that they recruit groups that have already shown they are good at working to solve a particular problem elsewhere in Mexico, and they provide an easy environment for those groups to come here and do the same work. City of Joy has identified a number of serious problems in Cancun that they are working on solving. It's an absolutely great project, it's run with full transparency and everything there is by the book. They have a Hospice there, run by some nuns who ran a very successful hospice in another part of Mexico. Many of the patients at the hospice are men dying of AIDS whose families have turned them out on the street. They have the only residential home for the elderly in the northern part of the state. Also run by nuns who showed excellence at running this type of facility in another part of Mexico. A number of the residents were found living in the streets of Cancun. They have a battered women's shelter also which provides a place for women and their children to find safety. They provide daycare and the women are given job training there. And they have both legal and medical services for the poor (including a discount farmacia). Lots of poor people do not even have proper IDs and birth certificates, so the Legal Aid project does lots of work helping people get these documents. They also have, or shortly plan to have, some kind of halfway house program to help ex-cons gain work skills and stay out of jail (I imagine this one will be met with some controversy). They recently opened a large school there to provide an alternative to public school for nearby poor children. And Caritas runs their Pan y Cobija project (bread and blanket) which takes donations of all manner of clothes, food and household goods and then either redistributes those to the poor or sells the stuff to buy things the poor need. Caritas does great work, both within and outside of their relationship with City of Joy. As you can see I'm a huge fan of the City of Joy. And yes they are located out on the highway to Merida, near the ABC Cement Factory. Officially I don't think there's a connection between the City of Joy and the Catholic Church. But there are strong ties. And most of the charity work done in Mexico is done by church groups, so those are the groups they work with. The director is not Catholic and it's not an issue. The work they do is great.
Wow, that's pretty amazing, RG, thanks for taking the time to post all that. No wonder you're so enthusiastic about them!
I am also a big fan of Ciudad de alegria Fundación Ciudad de la AlegrÃa A.C. > Home also know as City of Joy Fundación Ciudad de la AlegrÃa A.C. > Home I have supported it for years now. A can't say much more that RG has said except to add my voice to hers.
Nice to know, Jim. We gave some money for Christmas presents for the children of the women who are being served there, but I had no idea how broad the services were until RG wrote, here, with full details. Sounds like there could be a place for anybody with something to give.
"And it would be wise at this stage to investigate the viability of importing your equipment. Nothing would slow your plans as much as having all your equipment seized, or held indefinitely, at the border. I recommend a land border crossing rather than a water one, as there is far less inspection going on at land crossings into Mexico (yes, this is why the mafia can easily import so many weapons). As I understand it when you float stuff in you have a near 100% chance that Customs will inspect your contents, but when you cross by land your chances of thorough inspection drop to 5 to 10%. Even if what you are crossing is 100% allowed by Customs you still don't want the headache of having them go through every box one by one. So find out what you can legally bring and then do all paperwork properly (you will need a Customs broker) and then cross by land. If a charity were to import said equipment it may make it easier than for you as an individual to do so, just something to explore. Hope that helps." HI RIVERGIRL, I CERTAINLY APPRECIATE THE USEFUL INFO YOU HAVE PROVIDED ON SHIPPING MY HOUSEHOLD GOODIES TO MEXICO.... IE: LAND CROSSING VS SEA CROSSING...!! DO YOU HAVE SPECIFIC KNOWLEDGE OF WHY....THERE ARE DIFFERENCES WITH CUSTOMS INSPECTIONS FROM A LAND CROSSING FOR MY HOUSEHOLD GOODS VERSUS A SEA CROSSING....??? AND IF WHAT YOU SAY IS FACTUAL, CAN I SPECIFY TO THE INTERNATIONAL MOVER WHICH ROUTE, I PREFER....???? ON ANOTHER IMPORTANT TOPIC - MY IMMIGRATION VISA...!! I HAVE CALLED THE MEXICAN EMBASSY IN BOSTON.....AND ALL I GET IS A RECORDING DIRECTING ME TO THEIR WEBSITE.......WHICH IS WHERE I GOT THE TELEPHONE # IN THE FIRST PLACE...!! DUH.....AND DOUBLE DUH...!!!! WHAT IS THE FUNCTION OF THE MEXICAN EMBASSY....IF NOT TO HELP PEOPLE, BOTH MEXICAN AND AMERICANS..?? ARE THEY ON A PERPETUAL...."SIESTA"...??? OR JUST GOOFING OFF....?
"Guadalupe Reyes" From the Feast of our Lady of Guadalupe (Dec. 12) to The Three Kings (Reyes Magos) Day Jan. 6. Not much work gets done. Also, asking "why" is sometimes a frustrating thing to do. Most of the time the answer is similar to what my father used to tell me--"Just because I told you so." And you will get lots of different answers. And you can trust info from RG. She knows of what she speaks when it comes to Immigration and Customs matters. She has an inside source!
I can help you with the Boston Mexican Embassy. At their site, Consulado de México en Boston , on the left hand side click on Visas, then Retiree Visas for the process and requirements. Process and Requirements 1) Apply in person from Monday to Friday, 9.00 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. 2) Fill in application given at Consulate. 3) Bring valid passport (with at least 1 year validity), with a photocopy of the page with the bearer's personal data, picture and signature. 4) Bring a letter to the Consulate specifying: a) That you intend to retire in Mexico, b) Address of residence in Mexico, c) That you will be supporting yourself with an income source from the USA and d) That you do not intend to work in Mexico. 5) Bring proof of financial solvency such as the last 3 bank statements or letter from the Social Security Department and/or another fund of pension specifying the amount of the pension and other sources of income with a photocopy. 6) Two passport size photos (do not bring computer print outs) 7) Pay the FM3 fee of $98.00 US dollars plus $36.00 US dollars (in cash or money order) for the stamped visa on your passport. 8) Pick up your Visas the next business day from 4.00 to 5.00 pm Important Notice: 1) You have up to 90 days to use the visa. 2) When you arrive to Mexico, you must register with the local Immigration Authority. We followed this and had no problems what-so-ever but you do have to go in person two days in a row. Of course, there was a raging snow storm the day we had to return to Boston!!! Then once you arrive in Cancun, you must have Immigration at your entry point stamp it. Then you have, IIRC 20 days to get to INM on Nader to go through more registering of the residence. If I had it to do over, I'd have Lic Mauricio Mendoza take care of the Cancun part, LOL! It was doable but required a number of trips back and forth to INM. I hope this helps. ETA: You will have to leave your USA passport with them overnight to have the Visa put into it. It is returned along with the FM3 booklet on the 2Nd day.
My sister-in-law teaches at La Cuidad de Alegria but I had NO idea how much they do! And am very pleased to see that they are trying to work with ex-offenders. Reentry is a passion of mine, and it's even tough to get support for services here in New England!
I understand from a source in Customs that the red light/green light that you get when you enter Mexico is set to randomly go red about 1 in 20 times, or 5% of the time. You push this light when you enter Mexico by air or by land. I've never entered by sea, so I don't know if you have to deal with the red light/green light or not. But from what people have said to me I understand that when you float stuff in it is always looked at by Customs, even if it's only briefly. When we drove our stuff across the border we got a green light. Our truck was sealed in Texas, driven across Mexico and not opened again until Cancun. We filed all the correct papers with Aduana, but they never actually looked at the goods. As for Immigration CancunMole gave you instructions for getting a Rentista FM3 which is usually what retirees get. You may want to start with that and then adjust your status as needed once you are here. If you plan to work here (even as a volunteer) you will need to get permission to work here, so Rentista won't work for you long term. If you start your own charity then your immigration status will be dependent on your charity. I believe you will have to form the charity and then get permission from INM to work for it. That process could take quite a while, from what I understand. If you were to volunteer for a charity here then that charity could sponsor your immigration status and ensure that you have permission to work for them. Mauricio Mendoza is the man to talk to about this. He will understand which part needs to happen in which order. Also ask him about whether you can just start with an FM2 instead of an FM3. If you plan to live here forever, and won't spend large amounts of time outside Mexico, then an FM2 is probably better for you. In some parts of Mexico you can get an FM2 when you first move here. But last I heard the subdelegados in Cancun were not approving FM2s for people who had not held an FM3 before. Anyway Mauricio will know the latest on this.
