The Outreach is named after Padre Luis Jayme, the first Christian martyr in California. He was pastor of the Mission San Diego de Alcala when he was killed during an Indian raid in November, 1775. According to eyewitnesses, Padre Jayme greeted the aggressors with calm and love. He is buried at the Mission San Diego de Alcala.

Although Father Joe’s Villages formally established the Padre Luis Jayme International Outreach in 1998, St. Vincent de Paul Village began providing aid to the poor in Mexico in 1983. This effort has helped thousands of our neighbors in need in Mexico

 

The Padre Luis Jayme International Outreach
believes compassion doesn't stop at a border.

One of the Villages’ first international aid efforts came in 1985, when a catastrophic earthquake claimed 10,000 lives, left 50,000 injured and more than 100,000 homeless in Mexico City. Father Joe Carroll, President of Father Joe’s Villages as well as Padre Luis Jayme International Outreach, found an innovative way to help by operating a water factory that had been closed. With clean drinking water in short supply after the earthquake, the reopened factory distributed free bottles of water, helping to save lives and provide 50 jobs to the poor. The Outreach also purchased sewing machines and established a co-op that provided jobs and inexpensive clothing to the victims of the earthquake.