Our values, put into action.
The UUFSMA Social Justice Foundation exists to put our Fellowship's commitment to justice to work — funding carefully vetted local organizations that serve San Miguel de Allende's most vulnerable neighbors.
Gifts for Good Campaign
Support NEXT YEAR´s grant cycle — direct your gift to one NGO, or to the Foundation as a whole.
Vetted & Currently Supported NGOs
Every organization below has been vetted by the Foundation and is currently part of our grant portfolio.
A humanitarian shelter offering food, safe refuge, medical care, and emotional support to migrants and families in transit as they heal and continue their journeys.
News & updates →A home in San Miguel providing shelter, meals, medical care, and companionship for elderly residents who have nowhere else to turn.
News & updates →An all-volunteer organization founded in 2001 that reduces companion-animal overpopulation and suffering through free sterilization clinics in San Miguel and the surrounding countryside.
News & updates →Supports children facing learning, language, and psychological challenges, working alongside families and schools to help each child thrive.
News & updates →Works with rural communities around San Miguel to monitor water quality and build clean-water solutions, from rainwater harvesting to community treatment systems.
News & updates →Builds safe, dignified homes for families living in extreme poverty — 167 homes and counting — through a collaborative building process and ongoing community workshops.
News & updates →A grassroots organization that trains rural families in sustainable agriculture, community organization, and natural resource stewardship to strengthen local self-sufficiency.
News & updates →Provides free daycare and early childhood education for children from low-income families, along with daily meals, basic medical checkups, and parent education.
News & updates →Trains local midwives and community health promoters through an integrated health program serving families around San Miguel de Allende, part of a wider effort across Mexico, Guatemala, and Colombia.
News & updates →Provides psychological support for youth at risk of suicide, along with young women and children who have experienced domestic violence.
News & updates →Offers bilingual education in Mexican Sign Language and written Spanish to deaf and hard-of-hearing students, from early childhood through vocational training.
News & updates →Champions children's rights and wellbeing through community workshops, sustainable-practice training, and participatory projects that build local leadership.
News & updates →Provides university scholarships, mentorship, and life-skills workshops to economically disadvantaged youth from San Miguel and neighboring communities.
News & updates →Sparks a lifelong love of reading through books, author visits, and pop-up libraries — over 9,000 young readers reached across Guanajuato since 2013.
News & updates →A volunteer-driven organization providing scholarships that keep girls and young women from rural communities in school, from junior high through university.
News & updates →Provides early diagnosis, personalized therapy, and family education for children on the autism spectrum, with many receiving free or low-cost care.
News & updates →A year-round after-school program in the rural community of San Miguel Viejo, offering free classes in art, music, literacy, and more — a safe, encouraging space that keeps kids engaged and off the streets.
News & updates →Delivers medical, dental, psychological, and social services to disadvantaged children and adolescents, including mobile units reaching 500+ rural communities.
News & updates →A small, home-like residential care setting offering assisted living, rehabilitation, and hospice support with a high staff-to-resident ratio.
News & updates →The Foundation runs on volunteers
Beyond funding, the Foundation depends on members who steward these relationships and help the work run smoothly.
Become an NGO Liaison
Serve as a steward for one of our partner organizations, maintaining the relationship between UUFSMA and the NGO.
Learn more →Lend Fundraising or Grant-Writing Skills
Help the Foundation grow its capacity to fund even more vetted organizations serving San Miguel de Allende.
Get in touch →Give to the Gifts for Good Campaign
Direct your gift to a specific NGO above, or to the Foundation's general fund for this year's grant cycle.
Give now →|
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Founding Donors
In Honor of Ms. Betse Davies
From Paula Peace, February 2024
As one of its top priorities, the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of San Miguel de Allende, MX, has always advanced a high commitment to social justice/action in the broader San Miguel community and its surrounding villages. The educational, health and living condition needs of this city’s marginalized people cannot be overstated. For this reason, the UUFSMA is casting a wider net to generate funds to help meet the needs of carefully vetted NGOs serving these communities. Hence, the establishment of the UUFSMA Social Justice Foundation will succeed the previously locally-funded-only Social Action Committee.
The Foundation has ongoing needs for liaison stewards to these NGOs, for folks with fundraising and grant-writing skills, and for general “hands-on” volunteers to foster a brighter future for underserved citizens in and around San Miguel de Allende.
Why has the Foundation been created?
The UUFSMA Board determined that a Foundation dedicated to fundraising and grant-giving will increase our grant-giving capacity and enable us to be even more generous with our local NGO’s. The Foundation now seeks funds by partnering for justice with UU congregations in the U.S. and Canada as well as from global social justice funding organizations.
Will the Foundation be a separate entity or part of UUFSMA?
The Foundation is part of UUFSMA but - other than oversight by the Fellowship’s Board - will be run independently. The Foundation’s bank account is separate and donations to the Foundation will not be used for the Fellowship.
Who will run the Foundation?
The Board has chosen a five-member Governance Committee serving alternating terms of one or two years. (See below)
The work of this Foundation has begun thanks to the generosity of our Founding Donors. These individuals were the first to embrace the vision and the possibility of how a social justice foundation could expand our reach and improve our work for justice in this community, and they responded with generous gifts to the Foundation. These early gifts were important during the tricky transition time between 2023 funding from the Fellowship and the February 2024 launch of a separate campaign for the Foundation.
In pursuing those early gifts, I was fortunate to find the perfect partner for the ask in the articulate and passionate Michael Murphy. Together we approached each potential donor. But, we needed one beloved social justice leader to give an important blessing, so we went to Betse Davies.
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For the few members who may not yet know our own Ms. Betse Davies, she is one of our earliest members of our Fellowship and is renowned for her numerous long-term contributions to a dozen NGOs here in SMA.
For instance, Betse was one of the five founders of Jóvenes Adelante and a scholarship fund has been established in her honor. She started as a tour guide for Patronato Pro Niños, then served as head of the organization for more than 20 years. She served for years on the UUFSMA Social Action Committee, where she was the steward with Niños Con Autismo and the EEE school for the deaf, among others. Betse was named Rotary Citizen of the Year in 1991. Altruism was built into her life in her college days at Ohio State where Betse, like her mother before, was named into the women’s honor board. She learned to serve at an early age and – today at the age of 97 – continues her active life of service. So, we proudly announce that we did receive that important vote of confidence from Betse – and her partner Jim Harper – along with a generous check. Betse’s leadership was just the inspiring lead gift which we needed. We are proud to have Betse as a decades-long member of UUFSMA and are proud to recognize her by naming the new Foundation’s important Founding Donors project in her honor. |
Betse Davies
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Initial Donors
Betse Davies & Jim Harper, our lead gift Cynthia Claus Bill Dalsimer & Janet Freed Dianne Dailey & Bob Doupe Anne Geyer Eleanor Goodwin Rosemary Harman & Al Alford Michael & Kathy Murphy Mary Murrell & Douglas Zachary Paula Peace & Michael Moore Tom Rosiello & Malcolm Halliday Phyllis Vince & Kim Van Kapel Jane Wilkinson Donn Zellet & Nora Cohen |
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© Copyright 2026
Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of San Miguel de Allende La Conexion, Aldama 3, Box 401k, San Miguel de Allende C,P. 37700, Guanajuato, Mexico [email protected] |