Agua Prieta Family Shelters, Inc.
100% Volunteer, 501.c.3 Corporation, no employees and no paid Officers

Mailing Address:
8987 East Tanque Verde Road Suite 309-390
Tucson, Arizona 85749-9399

Roger P. Schneider - President
Email: Rschneider@apshelters.org
Phone: 520-981-0503
Fax: 520-749-5115

APFS, Inc. is dedicated to providing housing for families living in extremely poor conditions in the Territoria Movimiento and the Colonia Ladrilleria Neighborhoods in Agua Prieta, Sonora, Mexico, which is a border town to Douglas, Arizona and located about 100 miles southeast of Tucson.

Agua Prieta Family Shelters, Inc. was started as a result of building our first shelter in Agua Prieta in the Fall of 1997. Hearing that we could make a huge difference in living conditions for a certain large family with young children and live-in grand parents, four of us took off to Agua Prieta, sight unseen. As pre-planned, we linked up with a rancher, Dan Schoenfelder, who is dedicated to guiding building teams in the construction of shelters for families living in shambles and lean-to shacks in the Neighborhood barrio.

When we drove through the Colonia Ladrilleria Neighborhood barrio and arrived at the building site, we found it hard to imagine anyone could live in such a poor environment, day-in and day-out and with little hope that conditions would ever improve. Dirt, mud and sandy streets, no utilities, no sanitary facilities, little food, sleeping on the dirt, few clothes and no shoes for many of the children. On subsequent trips we brought shoes and jackets for the children, blankets and clothes for the family and for their neighbors.

Working on weekends and in a variety of weather conditions, it took $2500 and several trips to complete that first shelter. While we were building, other people heard of our project and joined us. The next effort was building a duplex for two sisters and their families. When even more people joined us we began to finish shelters that other teams had started and were unable to complete for one reason or another. We pre-scheduled our trips, organized the volunteers, and established our building season (October-March). Each season we finished whatever shelters remained incomplete and then built a new one or two before the end of our season.

We had the desire to grow and build more shelters – to house more families. However, funding was an issue and it appeared that expanding our service was not going to be easy.

During the summer of 2001, through word of mouth and contacts with friends, we were guided to attorney Sherry Teachner and accountant Jon Hahn. After reviewing our efforts and understanding our desire to incorporate and operate as a 100% volunteer corporation, they offered their services to assist us to incorporate. In March of 2002, Agua Prieta Family Shelter’s, Inc. (APFSI), a nonprofit 501.c.3 Corporation, was approved.

Elena Chabolla, a reporter with the Arizona Daily Star, heard of our efforts and with Max Bercherer, a Daily Star photographer, joined us for a day during a building trip. As a result of Elena's feature article, funding sources became more available and additional volunteers stepped up to the plate. Materials to build a shelter now cost between $3000 and $3500 depending on what materials may get donated during the season. While funding will always remain a fiscal issue, our building teams have been able to complete four to six shelters every season for the past several years.

The original foursome from 1997 is still together and are officers of the Corporation as well as Team Leaders:
Frank Fountain, Treasurer
Roger Schneider, President
Kip Thompson, Vice-President
Steve Wilson, Secretary

Board Members include:
Donna Lewandowski,
Paul Muller and
Connie Coleman

We all have day-jobs and busy schedules like everyone else, but we are committed to continue building shelters, training new volunteers and directing seasoned building teams in the Neighborhoods barrio.

Life in the Colonia Ladrilleria and the Territoria Movimiento Neighborhoods barrio
Situated in southwest Agua Prieta, the Colonia Ladrilleria Neighborhood extends south from Highway 2 to Calle 35 and east and west of Avenida 2. The Territoria Movimiento Neighborhood extends south beyond Calle 35 to the edge of town and also east and west of Avenida 2. These are the only Neighborhoods in which APFS, Inc. builds shelters.

Jobs are very few in these Neighborhoods. For those that are fortunate to be employed, the average day’s pay is about $10. Consequently, with the high cost of living, most families, especially those living in the Territoria Movimiento Neighborhood barrio, live in makeshift shacks of tarpaper combined with wood pallets and a variety of materials wired and tacked together. Also, the shacks in the Territoria Movimiento Neighborhood end of the barrio, these shacks have no conventional actual doors or windows and no services such as electricity and sewer and many have no direct water service, a combination that creates a situation similar to neighborhoods in third world counties. The lack of facilities and services certainly creates a challenge for us as well as others to build the family a nice all-weather shelter, but we get it done using generators, battery powered equipment, gas-powered mixers and, on occasion, large drums to transport water.

The Colonia Ladrilleria Neighborhood Northern portions of the barrio where APFSI has built many shelters in previous years have since been provided with very basic utility service opportunities. However, due to poor economic conditions, many families cannot afford to connect to the services or to pay a monthly fee to use the services.

School enrollment is highest in the winter. Temperatures often drop below freezing and sometimes into the single digits at night. With the lack of heat in many of the shacks, the schoolroom provides a warm haven.

Many families are cared for by only one parent, and it is often the mother who bears this burden alone. Older siblings pitch in and help care for the younger children. But often, the older siblings living in the same shack have children of their own.

The focus of APFSI’s Volunteers is to provide all-weather shelter to families living in these sub-standard and unsanitary conditions. Currently, three building teams, each consisting of ten to twenty members construct site built shelters from October through March. Year round, our Team Leaders also often meet and participate with volunteer groups traveling to Agua Prieta for the first time from other states as far away as Michigan.