Temporary Shelter During Natural Disasters
The El Cardonal Children’s Home has always been about providing a safe place for children and families when they need it.
Now, that purpose has taken on another form.
The facility has officially been registered at both the municipal and state levels as a temporary shelter during natural disasters, meaning it can be activated to receive members of the surrounding community when local authorities determine that emergency shelter is needed.
While the Board continues studying its longer-term mission, the facility continues finding ways to serve the community.
Over the past several months, the Directors of the home have been building relationships with government agencies, nonprofits, and community organizations throughout Baja California Sur. As part of that work, they participated in hurricane-preparedness discussions focused on improving coordination between organizations before and during emergencies.
More recently, Protección Civil inspected the El Cardonal facility to determine whether it was appropriate for use as an emergency shelter. The home has now been accepted at both the municipal and state levels.
That designation came at a particularly relevant time.
In late September, Hurricane Polo intensified into a Category 5 hurricane in the eastern Pacific before moving toward Baja California Sur. As the storm approached, the Directors were authorized to prepare the facility in case it was needed, while coordinating with Protección Civil and local authorities.
The preparation included making sure the buildings, supplies, and emergency equipment were ready; establishing procedures for receiving families; and maintaining communication with the authorities responsible for determining when shelters should be activated. In the end, the El Cardonal facility was not activated, but the experience gave the Directors an opportunity to put the new emergency-shelter procedures into practice and be ready if conditions had required it.
For a state accustomed to tropical storms and hurricanes, having safe places available throughout both larger communities and rural areas is an important part of emergency planning. Baja California Sur’s 2026 Civil Protection program includes 169 temporary shelter spaces across the state, with an estimated combined capacity of more than 33,000 people. The state has been inspecting those facilities for structural safety, emergency exits, basic services, sanitation, and accessibility.
The El Cardonal Children’s Home is now part of that larger network.
The home’s Directors at a Alianza Comunitaria BCS gathering.
If the facility is needed during a future hurricane, storm, or other natural disaster, it can provide children and families from the surrounding community with a safe place to go, under the direction and protocols of local emergency authorities.
We’re proud to be part of a growing community of partners who are making a difference. Keep reading below for updates from our partners.
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PARTNER UPDATES
El Cardonal Children’s Home
The El Cardonal Children’s Home (formerly John Gullo Home for Children) provides temporary shelter for children in BCS whose families are experiencing medical crises. Read the latest update below:
The Directors of the El Cardonal Children’s Home recently participated in the 5th State Meeting of Civil Society Organizations of Baja California Sur, a gathering created to strengthen nonprofit organizations, encourage collaboration, and build connections across the state.
The event included conferences, panels, working groups, and opportunities to learn from other organizations serving communities in Baja California Sur.
For the home, this was an opportunity to continue building relationships with organizations, institutions, and community leaders who may be important partners in the future. As the Board continues evaluating the best path forward for the facility, these connections help the home stay engaged in the broader network of people working to support vulnerable children and families.
New Creation Kids (NCK) Children’s Home
New Creation Kids is a children’s home just south of La Paz providing safe, stable shelter for children whose families are facing serious challenges such as addiction and homelessness. Read about our involvement with the home below:
As many of you know, NCK has been with us since the very beginning and continues to hold a special place in our journey. Operated by Roberto and Alma Osuna, this independent, registered Mexican nonprofit provides a safe and stable home for up to 30 children at a time.
Children whose parents are unable or unfit to care for them due to circumstances such as addiction, violence, or homelessness.
While Leaders2Give does not oversee NCK’s operations, we help fund essential daily needs like food, electricity, education, fuel, and water. Our involvement also includes stepping in for urgent capital improvements such as cisterns to help address water shortages installed in 2021.
Thanks to your generosity, we currently have enough funding to cover their basic needs for the year. That said, the needs at NCK are ongoing and often unpredictable. If you’d like to help cover the cost of essentials like water deliveries or meals, please consider making a donation. Just $25 can support one child for ten days.
The East Cape Health Center
The East Cape Health Center is a nonprofit clinic in Los Barriles offering full medical and dental services with discounted or free care for families in need.
Looking Ahead: What’s Next for East Cape Functional Health Clinic
East Cape Functional Health Clinic is already a reality in Los Barriles, offering more personalized care through medical evaluation, hyperbaric therapy, IV therapies, nutrition, and supplements—all in one place.
Today, these resources are integrated into care based on clinical evaluation and ongoing follow-up, providing a broader perspective on health while working alongside traditional medicine.
Within that same model, hyperbaric therapy can support goals related to recovery, circulation, physical performance, energy, sleep, and overall vitality, depending on each clinical plan.
This broader way of looking at care is also what guides the future of the clinic.
Looking ahead, East Cape Functional Medicine will continue to grow from this same vision: expanding the possibilities of care, creating an increasingly comprehensive experience, and incorporating new tools that strengthen the overall model.
And this is also possible thanks to you. What is already working today is part of a project that continues to grow and look toward the future.
The future of East Cape Functional Health Clinic has already begun: a different way of understanding and supporting health in our community.
Today, we are not talking about an idea. We are talking about a reality that continues to grow thanks to you.
Crescent Moon Project - Art for Children
Crescent Moon Project offers free arts-based classes that spark creativity and help children grow into compassionate, community-focused leaders. Read their latest update below:
Calendar Sponsorship
Art Without Borders
Each year, the Crescent Moon Project Calendar Project helps provide the rent for our art center. Twelve generous sponsors each donate $300 USD, with every sponsorship helping cover one month of rent. In appreciation, each sponsor receives a custom painting created by one of our students, along with a 2027 Crescent Moon Project calendar featuring artwork inspired by this year’s theme, “Art Without Borders.”
When you sign up, you’ll have the opportunity to choose an artist from somewhere around the world whose work will inspire the student painting created for your sponsored month.
Why Your Support Matters
This Calendar Project is vital to keeping our programs going. More than 175 children participated last year in Crescent Moon Project art experiences, contributing to more than 1,000 hours of creative engagement, all provided completely free of charge to our students. Your sponsorship helps us continue providing these meaningful creative experiences to the children of our community.
Become a 2027 Calendar Sponsor
We're using SignUp.com to make choosing your month easy:
Visit our SignUp page and select the month (or months) you would like to sponsor: SignUp.com – 2027 Calendar Sponsorship
Make your $300 sponsorship donation. We offer two ways to make your donation:
Cash donation — our preferred method
Tax-exempt donation — Click any green donate button on this page specifying CRESCENT MOON PROJECT as the organization you wish to support.
Let us know you've made your donation. After making your donation, please email us at CrescentMoonLosBarriles@gmail.com and let us know which payment method you used. This helps us keep track of sponsorships and ensures that we can arrange for you to receive your student painting and calendar.
Thank you for supporting the Crescent Moon Project and for helping us continue to provide meaningful, creative experiences to the children of our community. Your sponsorship does more than help pay our rent—it helps keep our art center open and gives children the opportunity to create, explore, and see the world through art.
Wonderland for Kids Sponsorship Program
Wonderland for Kids is a bilingual Montessori and childcare center in Los Barriles offering a Sponsorship Program to help low income families access affordable childcare. Read their latest update below:
Creating Brighter Futures Through Childcare and Education
Thanks to the generous contributions made through our partnership with Leaders2Give, Wonderland for Kids was able to provide full-time care and education to two children throughout our summer program.
We are especially grateful to continue supporting one of these children in our afternoon program. He is a nonverbal autistic child whose single working mother is doing everything she can to build a brighter future for her family. By providing a safe, nurturing, and educational environment for her son, we are helping give her the support and peace of mind she needs to focus on work and creating new opportunities for her family.
This week, we are also excited to begin our Montessori learning program for the new school year! Wonderland for Kids was created to help fill a much-needed gap in our community for quality childcare and early childhood education—giving young children a place to learn, explore, grow, and thrive while their parents work.
We are incredibly thankful to everyone who helps make this mission possible.
Would you like to help us continue this work? A contribution of $500 per month can provide a child of a low-income, single working mother with childcare and early education Monday through Friday, 8 a.m.–5 p.m.
Together, we can support children while helping their families build brighter futures.
To learn about the different ways to donate to Leaders2Give and any of our Partners, visit our Donate page.