Doña  Ana Communities United

December 2018  Newsletter

Greetings and salutations from Las Cruces! In this newsletter, you will find updates on our new Social Equity Mapping coordinator Enrique, as well as the successes of our November fundraising effort and a call to action to help reach our goal. We share about the the upcoming elections for Timebank Steering Committee members  and our monthly radio show,  Just Community . You will also learn how you can join us at the NM legislative session!

As we wrap up 2018, we are so grateful to everyone who has spent the year with us, doing work to build and enhance our communities both near and far. Thank you to all of you, and we look forward to continuing to work together!

Cheers to a new year!

Kari and Mairead

DACU Director 
Kari Bachman
575-496-4330
DACU Outreach Coordinator 
Mairead McCarthy
575-323-0730

Upcoming DACU Events

Timebank Orientation
January 10, 2-4 PM
Branigan Library, Roadrunner Room

Timebank Get-Togethers
--Holiday Party: December 29, 4-7 PM
(This will be a potluck + holiday swap: please bring 1 wrapped gift!)
--Potluck: January 25, 6-8 PM

DACU Team Meeting
 January 31, 11 AM-1 PM

Our get-togethers and team meetings are held at the DACU office:
151 S Walnut Street, Unit B13.
You'll find directions at the bottom of this newsletter.

Welcome, Enrique!
Caught candid!

We are excited to announce that Enrique Solis will be joining DACU full time as the coordinator for the Social Equity Mapping initiative! Enrique will officially begin on January 22nd as an  AmeriCorps VISTA member working through the New Mexico Coalition to End Homelessness ( NMCEH). Thank you to all who contributed to our Giving Tuesday campaign to fund this position! 

Enrique graduated from New Mexico State University in December, where he studied Criminal Justice. While in school, he worked closely with the Nevada Neighborhood Project, serving as one of the coordinators over the past year. We are thrilled that Enrique will be able to bring his experiences of mapping in the Nevada Neighborhood to expand and contribute to our other mapping projects! 

Please join us in welcoming Enrique to his new position!

Photo by Robert Yee









Enrique (right) helps to create conversation jars at a DACU event over the summer.
2018 DACU Fundraiser

In November, we invited our DACU friends and supporters to contribute to our Giving Tuesday campaign to fund our new VISTA position coordinating the Social Equity Mapping initiative. We are delighted our community has helped us get over halfway to our $4,500 goal! With Kari matching donations, we've raised $2,590 to date!

We hope to reach our full goal by the end of the year. We invite you to continue contributing to our campaign! Gifts will continue to be matched by Kari up to a total of $2,000 until the end of 2018.

Click here to help us meet our goal!

Thank you so much to all who have made a gift so far. We are inspired by your power and generosity.  Explore our website to see the work that other mapping projects have been involved with!



Timebank Steering Committee Elections

Timebankers will elect new members to our Timebank Steering Committee in late January! We'd be delighted to hear from all timebank members interested in serving. Please contact  Mairead to throw your hat into the ring!

The timebank is advised by a Steering Committee of five to nine members. Their purpose is  to work collaboratively with DACU staff to strengthen and grow the local timebank community. Steering Committee members spend two to four hours per month on committee duties, as well as attend a monthly meeting. 

So, why do we have a timebank? It's a wonderful way to meet people, learn new skills, and provide services to others. We build connections and have fun at our monthly get-togethers. It is free to use and always on your own schedule. And most importantly, when each one of us receives and gives, we build a more equitable community!

 
Photo by Mairead McCarthy  
The Steering Committee poses for a picture after a productive November meeting.

  Photos by Robert Yee
Steering Committee member Shana contributes great ideas to the group! 
The Steering Committee gathers for its September meeting.


2019 Legislative Session

The 2019 NM Legislative Session is coming up, and DACU invites you to help educate our lawmakers! We will have the opportunity to make two overnight trips to Santa Fe. The first trip is the ACLU New Mexico Immigrant Day of Action. On the second trip, we will be working with both Strong Families New Mexico and the New Mexico Coalition to End Homelessness (NMCEH).  These will be the areas of focus:
  • ACLU: Immigration justice, reproductive justice, and criminal justice. 
  • Strong Families: Medicaid and other policies that strengthen all families.
  • NMCEH: Ending homelessness.
If you'd like to participate, please respond to this survey by January 7th. Because we have limited space, we can't promise to include everyone who is interested. We will prioritize people who have gone with us to the legislature before.  For each trip, we will travel together in one vehicle and all expenses will be covered.

Michael holds resources that will help to organize teams of advocates.


Photo by Robert Yee
Patricia waves hello after this week's Strong Families legislative training session in Anthony.


Stanley Smith shares some of his experiences living on the streets at last year's Strong Families legislative forum in Anthony.

Just Community Radio Show

Kari continues to broadcast her radio show Just Community on KTAL-LP every Thursday morning from 8 to 9 AM. (Tune your dial to 101.5 FM or listen to the show online.)  The show focuses on social equity and features voices not often heard in our community. These are the shows that have aired so far this month:
  • Selected short stories (Readings of And of Clay Are We Created by Isabel Allende and What Lies Beneath by Mary Akers)
  • Ike Treviño (Growing up in South Texas and connecting to his native roots)
  • Notie Pate (An archived session reflecting on racism and basketball)
You can listen to archived Just Community shows here. If you or someone you know is interested in being on the show, contact Kari to get involved!

Ike matches KTAL's wall! 

Kari and Notie after recording in November 2017.
            

Directions to Our Office
151 South Walnut Street, Unit B13  map

You'll find DACU at the corner of Walnut and Griggs in the Walnut Business Park.  Please call before you come by as we may be out and about in the community!

 

We are just a few blocks away from several bus routes: Route 6 (stops 16 and 17), Route 7 (stop 20), and Route 8 (stop 5). For more information, visit the  Roadrunner Transit webpage.

visionmission
Vision:

Mission:
Doña Ana Communities United (DACU) creates welcoming spaces for all people, especially those whose voices and stories go unheard. We build genuine relationships, carry out uplifting projects, and engage with local government.

DACU conducts two main projects. (1) Social equity mapping: Undervalued community members explore their neighborhoods and work with local decision makers to develop policies that advance health equity. Current efforts focus on the Community of Hope, Gallagher Park, the Nevada Neighborhood, and Lisa Drive in Chaparral. (2) hOurTime timebank: Members 
build social cohesion and practice an equitable form of al ternative economics by exchanging
services.