Doña  Ana Communities United
November 2017 Newsletter

November has been an exciting month so far at DACU! We are thrilled to have been awarded a Partners for Places grant through the Funders' Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities. We have welcomed new colleagues to our mapping team and timebank and we have hosted inspiring guests on the  Just Community radio show. Read on to learn more and mark your calendar for our upcoming events!

Warmly, 
Kari and Meredith

DACU Director 
Kari Bachman
575-496-4330

DACU Outreach Coordinator 
Meredith Severtson
575-323-0730

Upcoming DACU Events

Our office is located at 151 S Walnut Street, Unit  B13.
You'll find directions at the bottom of this newsletter.

Timebank Potluck
November 18, Noon-2 PM
DACU office

Legislative Roundtable
November 28, 5:30-8 PM
Women's Intercultural Center
(Contact Kari: space is limited)

DACU Team Meeting
November 30, 11 AM-1 PM
DACU office

Timebank Orientation
December 4, 5:30-7 PM
DACU office

Timebank Potluck
December 11, 6-8 PM
DACU office

DACU Receives Partners for Places  Grant 
We are excited to announce that DACU has been awarded a grant from Partners for Places, which is a project of the Funders' Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities.

DACU will work with residents in the Bellamah/Nevada neighborhood to create connections through civic engagement, urban art, and timebanking.
Let us know if you live in this great neighborhood and would like to be involved in this exciting work!

This is part of a larger project of the City of Las Cruces Sustainability Office that will increase safety and address heat island effects by slowing traffic through creation of a green corridor on Nevada Avenue. DACU's work will also will be integrated with nearby Lynn Middle School, which has just been named the city's first community school.

Nevada Avenue as it looks now
   
Artist's rendering of how the green corridor might look

Welcome Sarah!
We have added a new member to our team! Sarah Strobel is finishing her degree in public health through an internship at DACU. She will be here through December developing a storymap to depict Chaparral residents' perspectives on the proposed multiuse trail, doing policy research for the upcoming legislative roundtable, and helping to organize the Nevada neighborhood project kickoff event. 

Born in Chicago and raised in Utah, Sarah spent 5 of the last 8 years in Europe. She is a happy wife and the mother of two one-year-old boys. She loves hiking, snowboarding, running, sunrises, and making connections with all people. We are very lucky to have her with us...many thanks to  DACU member Andrew Bencomo for connecting us!
Sarah Strobel
Just Community Radio Show 
Kari continues to broadcast Thursdays from 8 to 9am on KTAL-LP 101.5 FM. Yo u can now  livestream  the station from anywhere!

Just Community aims to highlight voices that are not often heard or valued in our society.  Recent shows have featured Kansas Chuck (Bikes not Bombs, ADD, and his path to sobriety), Notie Pate (racism, athletics, and Las Cruces), Veronica Delgado (veterans and PTSD), and activists from El Paso (saving the Duranguito neighborhood).

Please contact Kari if you know someone who has an interesting life story they would like to recount. We also encourage you to check out and share the recordings of past shows, which can be found  here.

Photos by Robert Yee
Kansas Chuck
Notie Pate

Veronica Delgado

Dominic Chacón, Connie Gutiérrez, Toñita Morales, and Victoria Quevedo

Directions to Our Office
151 South Walnut Street, Unit B13  map
DACU is located at the corner of Walnut and Griggs in the Walnut Business Park. We are  w alking distance from Roadrunner bus routes 6 and 7. Please call before you come by, as we are often out and about in the community!
 
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. We are a nonpartisan organization and we welcome everyone to join us!

We are conducting two main projects. Through the social equity mapping project, undervalued community members explore their neighborhoods and work with local decision makers to develop policies that advance health equity. Participants in the hOurTime timebank build social cohesion and practice an equitable form of alternative economics as they exchange services with each other.