Overview
For nearly 30 years, Casa Alianza Mexico has provided care and protection for boys and girls ages 12 to 18 who have experienced social abandonment, including abuse, neglect, violence, addiction, sexual exploitation and human trafficking. The rising tide of violence and instability in Mexico over recent years has made their work even more urgent, as has the ongoing influx of unaccompanied migrant children from Central America into Mexico.
Sofia Almazán has been the national director of Casa Alianza Mexico since 2002. Almazán has become one of the leading national and international advocates for at-risk, trafficked and migrant youth.
Programs unique to Casa Alianza Mexico
Palomas Home
This residence is operated in conjunction with another Mexican NGO, Casa Hogar Para Madres Solteras A.C., caring for 30 mothers between the ages of 12 and 21 and their babies. The Palomas Home residents are mostly girls who were forced onto the streets by domestic violence and abuse, abandonment or neglect. Many are also victims of commercial sexual exploitation and became pregnant as a result of the abuses they have suffered.
Luna Program
The staff of the Luna Program provides specialized care and support to youth in regard to all issues relating to sexuality, sexual health and human sex trafficking.
A number of the children we care for suffer from HIV/AIDS, and as such, the team works to ensure a comprehensive model of care and support for kids dealing with this disease.
Apartment program for survivors of human trafficking
Started in 2012 with funding from the US State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (JTIP), this unique program strives to give victims of human trafficking in the region the resources to heal and rebuild their lives through self-sufficiency, economic empowerment and well-being.
Participating youth, all who have survived the horrors of trafficking, are employed while living independently in off-site apartments leased by the Central American Women's Fund (FCAM).
With continued case management, these young adults are fully supported and gain life skills needed to secure their independence.
Unaccompanied migrant children
Casa Alianza Mexico has been in the forefront of responding to the wave of unaccompanied migrant children into Mexico. This is a huge challenge for the Mexican authorities, and Casa Alianza Mexico has responded by working closely with government officials and other NGOs to assure the protection and safety of these children.
Casa Alianza Mexico has become part of a working group in Mexico, including the U.S. Embassy, IOM, COMAR, DIF, the Mexican Institute of Immigration and other NGOs, striving to design new protocols for the effective protection and safety of child migrants. They have also developed a model program for migrant children seeking asylum in Mexico.