Nazareth Orphanage is located in Tecate, Mexico approximately 6.2 miles from the U.S. border.

Nazareth Orphanage is 7 hectares complete with a security wall and one entrance gate. Each hectare has 10,000 square meters. There are 4,000 square meters to an acre.

The Sisters have seven orphanages throughout Mexico and one in Peru.  Four currently house both boys and girls. There are two orphanages which have approximately one hundred boys and girls; they are located in Morelia and Uruapan, Mexico. Nazareth Orphanage hopes to become the third orphanage with one hundred boys and girls.

Currently, the number of children at Nazareth Orphanage fluctuates but, on average, the orphanage houses 50 young boys between the ages of 4 and 12 years old and a limited number of girls in temporary housing.  There are eight Sisters from the order of the Sacred Heart and of the Poor who live onsite, tending to the children. With the help of the current fundraising campaign, Girls Everywhere Matter, Nazareth Orphanage will be able to welcome up to 50 young girls, too.

Yes, the orphanage has a Board of Directors which draws its membership from the local business community of Tecate. The Catholic priest of Tecate and Father Brian F. Kelly Ph.D., who is President and Spiritual Moderator of Outreach for Nazareth Orphanage, are also members of the board. The Tecate Board oversaw the surveying of the walled compound and the deeding of the property to the Sisters of the Sacred Heart and of the Poor. They also undertake other large maintenance projects.

The Tecate Board of Directors gives broad leeway for the Director of Nazareth Orphanage to handle the general operations and day-to-day activities.

The monthly budget is approximately $3,000 US dollars. The Director of the orphanage receives this funding from various sources:
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a. Financial donations
b. Selling used clothing and furniture
c. Twice a year charity bazaars/fairs and quarterly rental of buildings for spiritual retreats

The Nazareth Orphanage receives no direct financial support from the Mexican government. Nazareth Orphanage does receive subsides for food, but the Director of the orphanage must drive to Tijuana once a month to receive this food. The children do receive free medical, dental and academic education from the local community.

The sisters are not sure how they are going to support more children at the orphanage.  Support will include increasing donations to the orphanage itself, support from OFNO’s on-line donation website and the potential to rent portions of the new community center to local church and civic organizations in the Tecate area for additional income.  

No, not in the traditional understanding of a child who has no father or mother to care for them. Some children do fall into this category, but others are placed at the orphanage because families are unable to properly care for their children both financially, educationally, emotionally and spiritually. The Mexican people try to choose not to allow a child to live on the street. Therefore, families will place their son(s) and daughter(s) at an orphanage until they have the means and opportunity to properly care for them. Many of the orphan boys have been raised at Nazareth Orphanage while being separated from their sister siblings.

In 2017, realizing the ever-present danger of human trafficking of at-risk young girls, Outreach for Nazareth Orphanage initiated a fundraising campaign “Girls Everywhere Matter” (GEM) to raise $750,000 for the development of additional campus facilities beginning with a dormitory and dining facility (Phase 1) designed to accommodate up to 50 young orphaned girls for the first time at the Nazareth Orphanage. These facilities will provide the girls with the same safety and life-sustaining necessities as the orphaned boys.