Rosa Mani Thomas is a social worker who has lived in Ciudad Juárez for over seven years. She expresses that it is the city she loves. Rosa is originally from Mexico City, and in 2016 she received a call to serve on the border.

Rosy shares, “I received a call in my heart, and it was impossible to reject it. I am also a migrant.” She started serving the shelters in Juárez as a volunteer, participating in events such as Hugs not Walls, deliveries of supplies and donations, collection of clothes and toys among other activities. During the pandemic, she was invited by the UN to coordinate the Covid Filter Hotel for migrants, serving as the Director for 19 months. Nearly 3,000 migrants passed through the shelter, and Rosy and her team provided comprehensive care within the hotel, working with various organizations, local, national, binational and international, to provide holistic attention to the population, including psychosocial and medical support, as well as recreational activities.

In the Filter Hotel, Rosy realized a long held dream to start the “Huellas” program, a word in Spanish that means fingerprints. Huellas provides job training for the migrant population as well as occupational therapy, motivation and entrepreneurship skills. Abara was grateful to be an early supporter of Rosa’s dream, and even more grateful to welcome her to the team the following year. Rosa’s driving motivation is to collaborate with others to leave traces of love in the lives of the people who come to the city.

Rosa is a force to be reckoned with, a deeply gifted leader, and an exceedingly creative, energetic person. Abara would not be the same without her.