Doña  Ana Communities United
March 2017 Newsletter

Doña Ana Communities United is excited to share updates and upcoming events with you. In return, please share your ideas with us. We look forward to collaborating with you!

Office Hunt Continues 
In the past month, Doña Ana Communities United has looked at multiple spaces, but we have yet to find the right one.  We'd like to find two offices and a large room of our own where we can hold meetings and community gatherings. Ideally, we hope to be located downtown. If you know of anything suitable, let us know! 

U pcoming DACU Events
RSVP sent to dacuparisa@gmail.com
Timebank Orientations
March 10 | 5:30pm - 7:00pm
March 18 | 10:00am - 11:30am
Mountain View Market 
Community Room 
1300 El Paseo Rd. Suite M

Timebank Potluck
March 25 | 12:00pm - 2:00pm
Live timebank exchanges 
At timebank member's home 
RSVP for address


DACU Team Meeting
March 30 | 11:30am - 1:00pm
Munson Senior Center 
Conference Room 2
975 S Mesquite St.
RSVP for lunch 

Film Screening: Time As Money 
Documentary on Timebanking 
April 1 | 4:00pm - 6:00pm
The Fountain Theater
2469 Calle De Guadalupe, Mesilla 
Free for all community members

Building Stronger Communities 
The Dona Ana hOurtime is up to 105 members and continues to grow! DACU holds different monthly events that serve as a space for our timebank members to establish stronger relationships. 

Last month, we hosted a live auction of exchanges at our monthly potluck. We had each member add an offer and request to the board, giving members a chance to set up in person exhanges. We were able to make more than 20 connections during our potluck. 



In addition, on April 1st, we will be screening a documentary on timebanking called Time As Money. It highlights the many ways timebanking builds stronger communities through an alternative way of acquiring services.  Our event is free for all community members! For more information, click here. 
Inspire to Serve 
DACU will be submitting two community projects to the Inspire to Serve project put together by the Network Volunteer Center. The winning project will be announce on April 8th at the Volunteer Fair and will receive $250 of seed money. 

For the first project, we are partnering with the Juvenile Citation Program and Weed & Seed to paint crosswalks in the four way intersection of Tornillo and East Picacho located in the Mesquite Historic District. In addition, we are partnering with The Beloved Community, local artists, and community members to create a mural that will share the positive message of "We All Belong." 

Although only one project will be funded by the City of Las Cruces, we hope to follow through with both projects. They will take place during National Volunteer Week, which is the last day of April. Please stay tuned for more updates. Contact us if you would like to get involved! 
 
Run With Your Doc was a success!
The DACU team ran an exciting 5K together at last month's Run With Your Doc fundraising event for St. Luke's Health Care Clinic. Thank you to our  DACU members and social equity mapping colleagues who joined us for a great cause! 




Doña Ana Communities United (DACU) builds the capacity of communities to develop and implement policies and community-based solutions that improve social, economic, and environmental conditions that shape health and life opportunities. We work to advance health equity in Doña Ana County by addressing institutional inequities related to geography, class, gender, and race.