Aleph Baja Updates

A Sal y Roca Christmas Update

As the holidays are upon us, we wanted to share a glimpse into what this year has looked like in our little Baja corner of the world. Grab a warm drink, cozy up, and enjoy a snapshot of life with Dustin, Jess, and the Aleph Baja (soon to be Sal y Roca) crew.

You know that feeling of juggling so many things that it’s actually hard to focus on just one…. a scatter-brained sort of foggy daze. This year has felt like waves of that. Our thought process has been: work hard, put systems into place, create a good foundation, so that we can rest… but you HAVE to figure out a way to rest in the midst of your working. This has been our challenge as we’ve been building and launching our new nonprofit, Sal y Roca, running programs through the summer and fall, developing our property, and – most importantly – continuing to deepen relationships with the kids and families in our community. Learning to rest in the midst of a pile of ‘to-dos’ is also a testament to Gods grace and provision! Even with doing our best, things have been missed or overlooked but God has filled in the gaps and continues to guide our path.

Registering our own non-profit is a big milestone for us. It feels like a such a healthy move forward and completely overwhelming all at the same time! In January of 2021, Aleph Surf International generously brought us under their wing, added Dustin onto payroll, trusted us completely without micro-managing, and never took a penny of what we fundraised. We are endlessly grateful for their belief in us. As our programs grew, so did the need for greater capacity, and transitioning to Sal y Roca allows us to work more closely with our Board and donors and steward this work with greater sustainability moving forward.

If you’re a financial supporter, please be sure to visit our updated support page and switch your giving to Sal y Roca for 2026.

This year was also marked by an incredible volunteer community. We loved welcoming friends from north of the border and witnessing the joy that happens when cultures meet through shared experiences. A special highlight was swim training with Gary and Tara from Las Vegas Swim Academy, whose expertise completely reshaped how we teach swimming. To all our 2025 volunteers—you grilled burgers, pushed kids into waves, belayed climbers, photographed beautiful moments, and gave your time so generously. Thank you!

(Once our program schedule is locked in for next year we’ll be sending that out to our volunteer list.)

We’re also happy to report that Bertha, our newly purchased van, is back from the mechanic and ready for adventures in 2026. She’s beauty and grace and a big hunk of metal, seating 15 passengers! Thanks again Grace Church for the vehicle grant!

Our partnership with Groundswell Aid has been another gift this year, including a $2,000 gear grant and dedicating a month to fundraise for one of our alumni, Fernanda, who is pursuing her dream of becoming a chef. Her tuition and fees are now covered through July! This has also provided a wonderful opportunity for mentorship and to journey through life with her. If you’re interested in sponsoring a month of Fernandas tuition, please reach out to us.

“Wow! it’s really happening!” has become a regular phrase between Dustin and I. Most of you know by now that we’ve been in the process of designing and building on our property. We plan to move into the casita sometime next year, and use the above space as an office, which will eventually sit alongside the main house with a climbing gym below. It’s a space where we hope youth feel safe, welcomed, free to ask hard questions, and maybe discover a passion for climbing. (It’ll be a bit difficult to host folks in our new tiny home but we’ll definitely have room on our property for a camper van! So come down for a visit!)

This winter we hosted two meaningful events: our Taco Fiesta in San Diego and our small-town Christmas parade in Baja. The parade highlight? Five inflatable, light-up shark costumes that completely stole the show. With no one able to see who they were, the boys really let loose with the dance moves, and the crowd loved it. And yes – our shark squad may have rivaled Santa in popularity and photos. It was pretty fin-tastic. Check out our social media pages for videos.

Our Taco Fiesta was a great time to connect with our San Diego support base, eat some bomb tacos and share about our end of year fundraiser. We hope to hire some of our older boys in 2026, empowering them as local leaders while increasing program capacity and safety. With our organizational transition and leadership development, we have a current goal to raise $20,000. Any end-of-year gifts will go directly toward this effort. Click this Zeffy link to see our progress.

There is just so much more to share but I can’t make this any longer. I’ll just add some picture at the end of some programs highlights, life stuff, and the leadership surf trip to Punta Cabras.

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