There is a saying that goes, “When America gets a cold, Mexico gets pneumonia.” America is struggling to contain the COVID-19 virus, but think what an impact this virus will have on the urban poor surrounding Mexico City. Many people already live day to day and practicing social distancing is very difficult if not impossible for many. Thousands of people don’t have access to clean water to practice good prevention and health care is limited.

UN Habitat confirms this assessment in a publication from March 20th: “The pandemic will hit the most vulnerable people hardest, many of them living in urban slums and informal settlements.”

There is an immediate need for financial support to provide members of local communities around Mexico City the necessary means to provide food for their families.

Urban Mosaic is an incredible organization bringing holistic transformation to fragile cities through locally led solutions. For the last several years, Mary and Lyndon Wade have been part of the Urban Mosaic team in Mexico City. As they live out an Interested, Exploring and Engaged way of faith along with us, they bring into our broader faith community needs and opportunities significantly different than what most of us in the U.S. see or fully understand.

This year, members of Origins are co-sponsoring a campaign to donate our largest amount yet to support the work the Wades are doing along with Urban Mosaic. The purpose of this campaign is to provide a steady stream of funds that can contribute to the most pressing needs their team is seeing in their communities.

Please consider joining us in donating as much as possible in the first few weeks of this campaign so that we can send a significant amount to this immediate need by the end of April.

As this campaign continues throughout the year, we will provide updates below celebrating the ways our donations are making a difference and giving visibility to current needs as we march toward our goal of raising $15,000 toward the work of the Wades and Urban Mosaic this year.

For more information regarding their methodology and impact, please visit Urban Mosaic’s website.

*Photos are used with permission from Urban Mosaic. These individuals, as well as many others like them, have been impacted by Urban Mosaic’s response to COVID 19, which this campaign is helping support.