Doña Ana Communities United is excited to share what we have accomplished over the past month. In return, please share your ideas with us. We look forward to collaborating with you!

Kari Bachman, Director
Doña Ana Communities United (DACU)
dacukari@gmail.com
575-496-4330
www.da-cu.org


Doña Ana Communities United
February 2017 Newsletter

New Office Coming Soon!
Doña Ana Communities United is excited to have received confirmation of funding from W.K. Kellogg Foundation for 2017 and 2018.  As a result, we are now looking for office space. 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! 

Join DACU at Run With Your Doc on 2/25
Run With Your Doc is a fundraiser for one of DACU's main partners, St. Luke's Health Care Clinic. They are a fabulous organization that provides health care and other services to homeless and indigent residents.

DACU is fielding a 5K team including our social equity mapping colleagues, many of whom have received housing assistance from St. Luke's. We welcome DACU members and friends of all abilities to join us (the largest team wins, not the fastest). Please contact us by 2/18 if you'd like to take part so we can register together...scholarships are available thanks to our December fundraiser!

Upcoming DACU Events
Please RSVP to  dacukari@gmail.com

Social Equity Mapping
Strategy Meeting 
Feb 17 | 11:00am - 1:00pm 
Las Cruces City Hall 
Room TBA
700 N Main St. 

Timebank Strategy Meeting 
Feb 23 | 11:00am - 1:00pm 
Munson Senior Center 
Conference Room 2
975 S Mesquite St.


Timebank Potluck
Feb 24 | 5:30 - 7:30pm
Mountain View Market 
Community Room 
1300 El Paseo Rd. Suite M

Timebank Orientations
Feb 22| 1:30 - 3:00pm
Mar 10 | 5:30 - 7:00pm
Mountain View Market 
Community Room 
1300 El Paseo Rd. Suite M

Decision Makers Outreach Strategy Meeting 
Feb 23 | 1:30pm - 3:30pm 
Munson Senior Center 
Conference Room 2 
975 S Mesquite St.

DACU Team Meeting
Mar 30 | 11:30am - 1:00pm
Location TBA



Strong Families NM Legislative Day 
On February 7th, five DACU members traveled to Santa Fe to participate in the Strong Families NM Legislative Day. It was an incredible experience!  As DACU member Stanley Smith expressed, "When people stand united that is when we are at our best." 

Kay Lilley, Michael Seamster, Jacqui Castillo Beck,
Stanley  Smith, and Kari Bachman

We were grateful for the opportunity to educate elected officials on issues important to our DACU delegation including housing for homeless residents, criminal justice reform, sexual violence, and services for residents with disabilities. We made great connections with policymakers and other community residents around the state and plan to follow up with our local delegation after the session!

Michael shares his story with  Generation Justice
reporters for a radio montage  to be aired on KUNM
 
Timebanking Group Project
The hOurTime timebank is up to 100 members and continues to grow! As we went around the table sharing requests at our most recent timebank potluck, we learned that one of our members could use some help packing for her upcoming move. This has been a wonderful group project involving many timebank members. To get involved in this and other efforts, see the events section above for future timebank orientations and potlucks. 

Timebank members help pack t he  belongings
of another member

Our timebank is building social cohesion and bridging divides between residents who don't often interact. It's also a way for us to participate  in an alternative economic model that values each member's time equally.
Social Equity Mapping Project
Our community mapping partners have been an incredible addition to our team! Currently we meet twice a week with a joint group of community members from St. Luke's Health Care Center and the City's Juvenile Citation Program. Our community work intersects with Lisa LaRocque's coordination of an interdepartmental group at the City, which is identifying avenues and mechanisms for implementing more equitable plans, policies, processes, and  programs that fully engage underrepresented community members.

Jacqui and Stanley explain their work mapping the area around Community of Hope to new DACU members at our February team meeting

Recently, the mappers spoke at a City Council work session to urge the City to address the upstream causes of vacant and abandoned buildings. We also met with City transportation professionals to discuss traffic calming measures to aid pedestrians and bicyclists.

Our two DACC public health student interns this semester will be creating story maps to communicate the findings and recommendations of our community colleagues. Shawnee Arciniega (left) hails from Isleta Pueblo and Dana Garcia (right) is from Las Cruces. Both are passionate about community engagement and social justice. We welcome you to DACU!


DACU will also be collaborating with  The Beloved Community and NMSU nursing students this spring on two new mapping projects which will be featured in upcoming newsletters.
DACU Fundraiser Fun Continues 
At our December fundraiser, DACU member Susan Ansara won a Persian dish donated by DACU staff member Parisa Shirazi. Susan invited her friends over to partake in the culinary and cultural exchange. What began as an auction item won by one person led to a great experience in community building! 

 

Our next online auction of services will be held early this summer. We hope to set a date soon. In the meantime, if you'd like to donate your services for the auction, let us know!

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.