Support The Stellar Shelter
AKA The "New Wave Feminists Consistent Life Ethic Center"
in Juárez, Mexico
An emergency shelter in El Paso, Texas
& Casa Maris
​
The Stellar Shelter is a beautiful building along the Texas-Mexico border that provides life affirming hospitality for pregnant women, migrant mothers and children, and vulnerable single women, all of whom are escaping horrendous hardships in their home countries and seeking asylum in the United States.
The shelter was founded in November of 2022 by Karina Breceda and Destiny Herndon-De La Rosa after witnessing how many pregnant migrant moms struggling to have their meet basic needs met (such as safety, dignified housing, access to healthcare, and other forms of daily support) were especially at risk of being coerced into unwanted abortions, even though many wished to continue their pregnancies if only given the resources to do so.
As often happens, once the shelter was officially opened in February of 2023, the vision grew.
Following a consistent life ethic, we value all life from womb to tomb, and the Stellar Shelter has now become a safe haven for many women - pregnant, single, and parenting. In the first 6 months of being open, we were able to care for over 200 women and children. We also have future plans to expand our care for those in the community by offering women's healthcare services which we already have the building for. The clinic will not only offer that to the residents of the shelter, but also anyone within the city seeking pregnancy support and well-woman care.
Six months after opening the Stellar Shelter, NWF was generously gifted another space (but this time on the El Paso side of the border), called Casa Maris. While the philosophy is still the same, Casa Maris serves as temporary emergency housing for pregnant women and their families as they wait to travel to their final destinations across the US. Many who crossover from Juarez will spend a few weeks waiting to arrange bus rides in El Paso, a desert town where in the winter the temperatures often drop below freezing at night. Casa Maris has allowed us to offer safe shelter to many pregnant mothers, and parents with small children in these harsh conditions, where they would otherwise be sleeping out on the streets.
Both of these shelters are funded solely by your donations, and can only be sustained through the generous support of our donors. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you so much for helping us love these women, children, and families so well.
Check out the Stellar Shelter!
About the Stellar Shelter & Casa Maris' Co-Founder & Director...
Karina Breceda has lived a life of service for years. From serving migrant families on the US side of the border, to working with women in Juarez who have experienced sexual violence (many of whom became pregnant as a result), she knows how to protect the vulnerable, and nourish their spirits as well as their bodies.
Her tireless dedication to humanizing human beings, as well as creating a culture of life at the border is unmatched.
She is ready to start a revolution of love, one human-to-human encounter at a time.
Her resume includes implementing programs that have been sought after by esteemed leaders in her community as a model for how to do it right. She doesn't simply meet the basic needs of those in her care, she walks alongside them - empowering these women every step of the way - and preparing them for the journey ahead.
We are so lucky to count Karina as a New Wave Feminist board member, and she is the perfect person to implement projects of this scale. Her years of experience running shelters along the border have perfectly prepared her for this very moment, and no one is better equipped to serve the women of both Juarez & El Paso than she is. These are more than just shelters to her, they are the first step in creating a far-reaching culture of life within her community.
To read more about our shelters, click here
Past NWF Projects
Covid-19 Relief Efforts
NWF - Dallas put together 75 "Lady Kits" for families in South Dallas. This area is known as a food desert, so women and girls have less access to basic feminine hygiene and reproductive care supplies.
We were also very grateful for the opportunity to help Abide Women's Health Services in getting necessary supplies to babies and mamas through their "contactless porch drop offs" of essential items like formula, diapers, baby wipes, and breastfeeding support.
#Bottles2TheBorder
Our human dignity doesn’t begin at birth and it doesn’t end at the border…
The 2019 Bottle To The Border campaign was a huge success, dwarfing the one from the year prior. The final campaign took a semi-truck worth of supplies to a respite center in McAllen, TX, as well as monetary donations to two other shelters along the US/Mexico border.
The Great Texas Tampon Haul!
In response to Hurricane Harvey