The mayor of Tijuana, Montserrat Caballero Ramírez stated that she regrets the number of people, both men and women, who are homeless and who are victims of lack of opportunities, poverty, discrimination, and social exclusion.

“When we talk about homeless people, as the government we cannot ignore this reality in our city of Tijuana,” the mayor highlighted during her participation at the first Summit of the Cities of the Americas which took place in Denver, Colorado, in the panel “Creating Sustainable Cities”.

The first female mayor of Tijuana spoke favorably about her recently created social program “Integrando Vidas” by the Secretariat of Welfare, directed at homeless people, in which they are given permanent assistance through the Therapeutic Community of Rehabilitation and Social Reinsertion for Addicts (COTRRSA) for men and women, of the Municipal Institute Against Addictions (IMCAD).

Caballero Ramírez recognized that if there is something life and her mother have taught her is that to reach her dreams, she had to fight with all of her strength and never lose hope, which is why she recommended people to never lose their will to wake up everyday and get that wellbeing for their families. But if you don’t have this type of support, she confirmed that her government activated the “Integrando Vidas” program to provide permanent assistance to homeless people to help them get over their addictions and improve their quality of life.

“As the mayor of Tijuana, as a transparent government, we offer a life opportunity for homeless people in our city with this program meant for men, women, and young people. With it, 100 people have been rescued for free in one year,” she stated.

During her presentation, she explained that alongside the Municipal Institute Against Addictions, they are offering psychological and medical assistance as well as occupational therapy and workshops that teach skills that allows them to reintegrate into society.

The first female mayor of Tijuana stated that, with these actions, her government is looking to promote inclusion and empathy for vulnerable people because Tijuana is a noble, strong, hardworking city made up of different cultures, not only from Mexico but from all over the world. In this search for social wellbeing, the 24th Municipal Administration of Tijuana helps homeless people to leave this reality with more inclusive, peaceful, human right aligned policies that gives them back their hope to live.

When meeting with leaders of the Americas, she emphasized that this forum was the perfect opportunity to strengthen with government actions the necessary strategies to reach together the beginning of more and better programs that rescue homeless families.