Two Homes. Two Families. One Team That Showed Up.

There’s a version of a company that talks about servant leadership. And there’s a version that actually lives it out, on a concrete slab, under the Tijuana sun.

We’re proud to be the second kind.

Last week, a group of Renovians traveled to Tijuana, Baja California, to serve alongside Homes of Hope and do something simple, tangible, and lasting: build homes for families who needed them. Just work, connection, and the deep satisfaction of doing something that matters.

Why We Keep Coming Back

This wasn’t our first time on the hillsides outside Tijuana. Our story with Homes of Hope stretches back to February 2020, when a large crew of Renovians made the very first trip and it changed us. That year, we built three homes in two days alongside Homes of Hope and their parent organization, Youth With A Mission (YWAM). We showed up to a finished concrete slab and a pile of lumber, and we left knowing that three families had a place to call home.

What we discovered that year was that service like this does something to a team. It strips away titles and job descriptions. It puts everyone on equal footing, literally. One person holds the board, another swings the hammer. A leader on the org chart finds themselves taking direction from someone who knows how to hang drywall. And somehow, in that leveling, something powerful happens. People grow.

That discovery stuck with us. So in the summer of 2023, we went bigger.

For our mid-year company trip, we brought the entire Renovia team to Tijuana. Not just a handful of volunteers. Everyone. And together, we built several homes for families in need. It was one of the most ambitious things we’ve done as a company, and one of the most meaningful. When you put your whole organization side by side, working toward something that has nothing to do with revenue or quarterly goals, you learn things about your people and yourself that no team-building exercise can manufacture.

That trip cemented something in our culture: this isn’t a one-time thing. This is who we are.

That’s exactly why we went back again.

What We Built This Time

This year, two teams. Two sites. Two families.

Like before, each build site greeted us with a finished concrete slab, the foundation laid in advance by the Homes of Hope crew, and the raw materials to do the rest. Walls, roof, windows, doors, paint. All of it, built by hand over two days.

What was once an empty plot is now a place where life can grow, where kids can feel secure, and where hope has a foundation.

The Moment That Changes You

If you’ve never been part of a key ceremony, it’s worth understanding what it is and what it does to you.

At the end of the build, the whole team gathers in a circle with the family. One by one, people get the chance to say a few words. They reflect on what was built, they thank the family for the opportunity to serve, and they try, often imperfectly and often through tears, to put into words why this mattered to them. A translator carries those words from English to Spanish and back again. Then a prayer is said and the keys are handed over.

And the family walks through the front door of their home for the first time.

What a Servant Mindset Actually Looks Like

We talk a lot about servant leadership at Renovia. It’s easy to put on a slide deck or hang on a wall. But servant leadership that stays inside the office isn’t really servant leadership. It’s branding.

What happened in Tijuana last week was the real thing. Teammates who showed up early, worked late, and gave everything they had to two families they’d never met before and may never see again. That’s what it looks like to live out a servant mindset, not just on the job, but in the moments that matter most.

We’re grateful for every Renovian who made the trip. You represented our company well. More importantly, you represented something bigger than any company.

Go. Serve. Transform.

Homes of Hope has been doing this work for decades, and they’re always looking for groups who want to make a difference. If your company, church, or community organization is looking for a meaningful way to serve, we can’t recommend this experience enough.

Learn more at www.ywamsandiegobaja.org.

And if you feel the dare, to get out of your comfort zone, to be vulnerable, to serve, don’t wait. The need is real, and so is the impact.

You’ve been dared. Go.