The New Mexico Health Equity Partnership (HEP) believes every New Mexican should have the opportunity to lead a healthy life, live in neighborhoods where our children and families thrive, and have a say in the decisions that impact their communities and their lives.
In this newsletter, we highlight and celebrate members of the HEP network. We are excited to welcome Christina Morris to the HEP steering committee. We congratulate New Mexico graduates and give a special shout out to a few graduating young leaders (Mahdi Hossaini and Joana Fernandez Nuñez), we have worked closely with. Because we believe graphic harvesting is essential in this moment to re-imagine a healthy and just future, we highlight artist, Emily McClintock,.Emily is currently serving as an AmeriCorps VISTA with Opportunity Santa Fe and participated in the 2019 Graphic Harvesting workshop. We share an interview with her where she explains how graphic harvesting helped bring joy back to her work.
Please take a moment to read the newsletter and check out HEP’s recent impact and evaluation reports from last year. If you are able, please consider donating to McKinley Mutual Aid , the Navajo & Hopi Families COVID-19 Relief fund, or one of the other funds designed to respond to the urgent needs in Indigenous communities and communities of color during this pandemic and ensure an equitable recovery. We are committed to working with you to lift up your solutions for a just future to ensure the well-being of all communities.
Welcome Christina Morris to the HEP Steering Committee!
HEP has an eight-member steering committee which provides strategic oversight to HEP. We are excited to welcome Christina Morris to the committee. Christina is the Health Promotion Specialist, DOH PHD, NW Region. In her seven years as Health Promotion Specialist in San Juan County and interim for McKinley County, Christina works closely with local, inter-sectoral, and tribal organizations to empower communities and leverage health outcomes affected by programs and policies. Christina served two consecutive terms as the NMPHA Northwest representative. Supported by the HEP team and Human Impact Partners, Christina has served as a HIA Technical Assistance Provider since 2015. She has provided support to state and local northwest New Mexico teams, including the McKinley Collaborative for Health Equity, Somos Un Pueblo, Unido, and Global 505. She currently supports the McKinley Community Health Alliance HIA team focused on housing. Prior to Public Health, Christina’s experience stems from eleven years in research in Diabetes Intervention models with the National Institutes of Health. Christina enjoys the outdoors and traveling.
Congratulations to New Mexico’s Graduates!
HEP congratulates all New Mexico’s graduates during this unprecedented time. We would like to give a special shout out to HEP Health Impact Assessment Technical Assistance Provider, Mahdi Hossaini; former HEP intern, Joana (JoJo) Fernandez Nuñez, and all the young men of color leaders at Together for Brothers who have graduated this year. We are so proud of you and grateful for your leadership. You are bright lights in this world - Congrats!!
Mahdi Hossaini comes from Turkey and was born in Afghanistan. He has been part of nonprofit organizations, including: Together for Brothers and Making Connections. With Together for Brothers, he worked on a Health Impact Assessment focused on free bus passes for youth. He is also martial artist who has participated in national championships. He just graduated from Highland high school and is planning to go to college and study medicine. Mahdi serves as a HEP Health Impact Assessment Technical Assistance Provider supporting with special projects and HIA trainings. In fall 2019, he supported the Global 505 Health Impact Assessment team with follow technical support as they created a visual survey. Congrats Mahdi!
Joana (JoJo) Fernandez Nuñez, who grew up in Rio Rancho, will be graduating from Williams College with a major in psychology and concentration in neuroscience in June 2020. Joanna has a strong interest in public health, improving mental health outcomes, and ensuring interventions are culturally appropriate. Her passions are tied to her experiences as a first generation Mexican American. She understands how the social environment has shaped her experiences and impacted her health and sense of identity. She wants to help other people understand this so they can make sense of the world around them and feel confident and grow in a way that is true to their identity and supports their well-being. Jojo served as an intern at HEP during her winter quarter in December 2018 and January 2019. During her time with HEP, she completed Health Impact Assessment training; organized informant interviews and qualitative small group dialogues with statewide partners to learn about and document policy impacts on health and challenges in the health care system; and executed a celebration event for partners focused on improving the lives of boys and men of color. Congrats JoJo!
Policy & Advocacy
Native American Relief Fund distributed $575,000
On Friday, May 22, 2020, the Native American Relief Fund distributed $575,000 to support COVID-19 response and relief efforts in tribal communities in New Mexico. These funds were distributed equally among the twenty-three Pueblos, Tribes and Nations located wholly or partially in the state. Each Pueblo, Tribe or Nation can use these resources as it determines to prevent, mitigate or respond to threats from the COVID-19 pandemic including: food, medical supplies and personal items; water; community and individual relief and recovery needs; internet access and connectivity and other needs and expenses directly related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Tribal governments can also count these funds toward the non-federal match requirements needed to secure Public Assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Joannie Romero (Pueblo of Cochiti) who is serving as the lead for a 2-year W.K. Kellogg Project called, Catalyzing Community Giving (CCG) delivered the check to Cochiti Pueblo Tribal Leadership in the amount of $25,000. Some of the goals of the CCG project are to expand research the landscape of Native American philanthropy in the state of New Mexico, expand donor networks, and create new giving circles. Additionally, Romero serves as a liaison to the Native American Advised Fund (NAAF) at the Santa Fe Community Foundation which does annual grantmaking to support Native American communities, schools, and organizations serving Native populations in New Mexico. The NAAF Advisory Committee is an all-Native led committee that is also chaired by Jhane Myers (Comanche/Blackfeet). Since 1997, the Native American Advised Fund has granted over $200,000 to 50 different tribes, schools, and organizations. This years grantmaking will focus on COVID-19 Relief.
Submitted by - Joannie Romero (Pueblo of Cochiti), Philanthropy Associate, SFCF
photo below - Joannie Romero, Advisory Committee Member for the New Mexico-based Native American Relief Fund, delivering a check to Governor Charles D. Naranjo at the Pueblo of Cochiti
Capacity Building
Graphic harvesting helped to bring the joy back in my work!
Creativity is needed now to imagine new possibilities for a healthy and just future. In November 2019, HEP partners participated in a two-day Graphic Harvesting workshop facilitated by the Visual Sisterhood. Because there were so many amazing and inspiring community members who attended the training and have continued to cultivate this craft, we are highlighting one training participant each month. The person we are highlighting this month is Emily McClintock, who is currently serving as an AmeriCorps VISTA with Opportunity Santa Fe. Emily has a background in Fine Arts from Northern Arizona University. Her fine art is realistic. Following the graphic harvesting training her work is now highly illustrative, colorful and fun! Below is an interview HEP conducted with Emily.
What inspired you during the graphic harvesting training? What did you learn or take away?
The training got me thinking in a new way. There were people there with so many backgrounds, some who didn’t believe they had artistic skills and they made cool drawings. I learned a new style and developed a cool illustrative style, which continues to develop. I have more fun now. My other work got dark at times; it was focused on realism and details. Graphic harvesting is not supposed to be perfect. It is so much more approachable. It invites people to do it themselves; they can add on to the visual. The process is very collaborative. The biggest thing is that is FUN! In school art was about producing content and I got burnt out. Graphic harvesting helped to bring the joy back in my work.
What have been working on or sharing with your skills?
Since the training, I’ve created agendas for Opportunity Santa Fe working groups and team, as well HEP. I collaborated with people I didn’t think I would creatively. I’ve also created other visuals, explaining how you do graphic harvesting and made illustrations for the e-news. I also created a workbook to share what I learned with my peers. Being a VISTA is temporary for me, so I wanted to leave something behind to explain how to do it and I hope someone else has the courage to do it. I also have co-facilitated a mini in person session and a few virtual sessions. We all have different styles and what is great is my peers work shouldn’t look like mine. Graphic harvesting is a way to make work fun!
What are your future plans with graphic harvesting?
In the future, I would like to focus more on lettering and maybe teach a session on this. I’ve always had an interest in becoming a concept artist. I would like to continue graphic harvesting and look for contracts to do this. I’m particularly interested in doing graphic harvesting for non-profits with an environmental focus. I also plan to continue to incorporate graphic harvesting into my everyday style to make it more illustrative. I’ll continue to evolve and use it for my own notes. I will also use my education skills and continue to share graphic harvesting with others - it is open to everyone.
Interview conducted by Jessica Espinoza-Jensen with Emily McClintock
All graphics created by Emily McClintock
Small Grants available from the Outdoor Equity Fund
New Mexico’s Outdoor Recreation Division through the Outdoor Equity Fund is soliciting applications for small grants between $1,500 - $15,000 to support all youth having more equitable access to the outdoors. Local units of government, pueblos, tribes, state agencies, and nonprofits can apply so long as they serve a population where at least 40% are low-income youth up to the age of 18. For more information, please see the following press release in addition to the grant application which can be found here. Additional information is also available in an article shared in the Albuquerque Journal.
Submitted by Kay Bounkeua
Partner Capacity Building Opportunities and Events
Santa Fe Community Foundation - The HEP’s institutional home, the Santa Fe Community Foundation (SFCF), is committed to supporting nonprofits in achieving their missions with excellence. The SFCF’s Philanthropy HUB has been designed as a learning and gathering place for the philanthropic sector. The HUB's programs strive to: 1) deepen philanthropic practice; 2) build nonprofit capacity; 3) provide support for professional advisers; and 4) provide platforms for learning about social issues in community. Upcoming trainings and presentations include:
If you are a HEP network member and you have an upcoming training, workshop, or other capacity building opportunity open to community members and organizations, please send information about it to David Gaussoin and the HEP team can include it an upcoming newsletter.
