Meet Our Team
Chris and Julianne
Chris and Julianne, the co-founders of Build A Miracle, met in college while on a trip to paint a boys home in Tecate, Mexico. After they both graduated, they moved to the boys home for 6 months to volunteer. While there, they realized that, although the boys home was labeled as an orphanage, most of the boys living there actually had families. However, their parents could not afford to provide them with a home, food or schooling and were forced to make the difficult decision to leave them at the boys home, where they knew that at least their basic needs would be met. This inspired Chris and Julianne to become involved in the communities of Tijuana to find a way to keep families together by building dignified homes for parents to raise their children in. They began a journey to gather their own family and friends and to build one house a year. However, people became so excited about helping, that they soon realized they should start a nonprofit. According to Julianne, “One thing we have learned here at BAM is that people are generous. People want to help. People care. All they need is a good program to care about. A program that truly benefits people that need help. A program where they can see that they are changing lives.” Almost 40 years and 4 kids later, Chris and Julianne remain as committed as ever to this cause. They devote all of their spare time and energy to BAM and to helping the community that has become their second family.
Adolfo and Eva
Adolfo and Eva, the other co-founders of BAM, have been working with Chris and Julianne for almost 40 years. Chris and Julianne met Adolfo when they were at the boys home in Tecate, Mexico. He showed up one day with a big map and a dream of starting a soccer team with all the boys from the home, something he had done in other areas of Tijuana. At the time, Adolfo already worked with various organizations in Mexico, helping to start garden projects, build homes, and improve schools. He teamed up with Chris and Julianne after meeting them and the rest was history. Adolfo and his wife, Eva, are now fully dedicated to the Build A Miracle community and mission. They are both from Mexico and have a deep love for their people and culture. Adolfo always thinks of others before himself and has dedicated his life to serving others. He motivates and inspires our families. He teaches them to be the best they can be and he dreams big. He is like a godfather to us all. Eva is a gift to everybody involved in Build A Miracle with her loving support and calm presence she brings to the community where she helps so many.
Leaders and Subleaders
Nothing that we do would be possible without our incredible leadership team in Mexico. They are really the ones who make Build A Miracle what it is. They give the program its heart and soul by creating an environment where all are welcome. The BAM community leaders have all come from Build A Miracle homes. That is to say, the women who now run our community programs, once lived in extreme poverty and then stepped up to become leaders in their community. They went from looking down, living in houses built of scrap wood, struggling every day to feed their children and focusing on daily survival, to looking up, getting to know their neighbors, helping those around them, and becoming examples in their neighborhoods. Our group of leaders and subleaders are powerful, compassionate people who go above and beyond to serve others and to make sure that as many people as possible benefit from BAM. They help organize build days, find families for our house waiting list, create programs based on the needs of the community, help individual families with specific needs, and do so much more that we could never capture in such a short description. They inspire those around them, including Chris, Julianne, Adolfo and Eva on a daily basis.
House Building Team
The BAM home building team, led by our dear friend Alfonso, does all of the skilled labor required to build the houses. This is the group that gets it all done. They are the backbone of our organization. These men work tirelessly to have 2-4 building projects ready almost every weekend for us to work on. Without their hard work and dedication, we would not be able to take large groups of volunteers across the border to experience the joy of helping others. There is nothing we ask of them that they don’t figure out a way to get done. They bless their neighbors through their labor and do it all with a smile on their faces!
What makes our leadership team unique?
Building Leaders
The BAM leadership team in Mexico is composed almost exclusively of people who live in the homes that we have built. In other words, they have transitioned from experiencing extreme poverty to assuming leadership roles within their communities.
Transforming Communities
Our leaders come from the communities that they work in. They have benefited from BAM and want to share the love and support that they have received with the world. They work tirelessly to lift everyone around them up and are transforming their neighborhoods
There is no job too big or too small for them to handle
We would not be Build A Miracle without them!
