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OUR MISSION
The mission of the Palomas Family Cooperative is to empower women and their
families to work together, developing skills and using new
resources, to improve their lives.
PURPOSE:
It is our belief that education and economic
sustainability can lead to healthy families and healthy communities.
Our overall purpose is to develop a strong, viable
organization, structure, and gathering center capable of educating, empowering,
and mentoring women to reawaken and focus their creativity and artistic talents
so they may achieve economic stability and security for themselves and their
families.
We hope to build economic bridges between stake holders so
that our neighborhoods and communities may be safer, stronger, healthier, and
more livable.
WHO WILL BE SERVED:
Women and their children will constitute at least
85% of the direct beneficiaries from this project.
To date we have 15 regular artisans and we have had
as many as 50 women and children come on any one day to participate in lunch and
crocheting.
GEOGRAPHICAL AREA:
Women and children in Luna County, New Mexico and
the adjacent socio-economic and bio-region, Palomas, Chihuahua, Mexico, will be served by the project.
Many families have members living in both Southern
New Mexico and Northern Mexico and this educational project will have a
favorable impact on both regions.
The Palomas Family Cooperative is the vision of three
people-Janet and Clint Shepard of San Lorenzo, New Mexico and Socorro Palacios
de Carreon of Palomas, Chihuahua, Mexico.
It began as a simple Christmas dinner for people
living, working or stranded in Palomas, Chihuahua, Mexico during the holidays.
A vision emerged of a community cooperative workshop
and store for local artisans and the Tarahumara people, who migrate from the
Sierra Madre mountains, to produce and sell their manual arts and the
construction of a safe playground where the children could play nearby outside
under the supervision of their mothers.
In May 2007 David S. Henkel, Jr., Professor of Planning,
UNM, Albuquerque contacted Our Lady Of Las Palomas and shared research that he
and his students were doing in Columbus, NM and Palomas, Mexico, and we verbally
agree to collaborate on some kind of economic development project that would
benefit families in this region.
The Cooperative officially began in October, 2007 with the
gathering of a core community at Socorro Palacios home for a traditional dinner
and celebration of intent.
The core community began regular weekly meetings at
Our Lady of Las Palomas Compassion House in Columbus, NM developing the mission
statement, goals and objectives, resources, list of possible stakeholders and
advisory board members, and a fund raising plan.
Peter and Polly Edmunds joined this core group
bringing expertise in community/cooperative formation, construction of
sustainable/green technology, and language.
Other local artists and friends of the core
community visiting the area began to gather and lend support to the vision.
Friends began to donate art supplies and yarn,
churches and the Shrine club of Deming and individuals donated money and gifts
for the third annual Holiday dinner, and Peter organized the construction
project in Palomas while Kris organized the construction project in Columbus
that would give us workshop space in both locations.
In January 2008 the core community met with stakeholders
and developed a list of goals for the Cooperative:
1.
Workshop Space:
Have a safe, warm, clean, well-lite work space for
the cooperative where participants can share a meal, learn new skills, and make
their arts and crafts in community.
This goal included the need for cooking facilities,
toilet, shower, washing machine, and children's safe activity center (indoor and
out).
2.
Education and Skills Development:
Have weekly classes in different arts and crafts so
the participants can experience different mediums in which to express their
creativity.
Bring in local and international artists to teach and
network with existing fiber arts cooperatives to learn from them and enlist
their support.
3.
Jobs and economic stability:
Encourage quality in our products that can and will
command a fair price in the market place, and teach marketing, presentation, and
financial management.
4.
Education and Skill Development in Sustainable
Technology:
Provide education and resources about solar technologies
that will lead to a higher quality of living, lower living costs, and potential
cottage industry as this technology is developed and mass produced for the
market, and build a demonstration project in Columbus, NM and Palomas.
5.
Health and Nutrition:
Sponsor workshops in health and nutrition, network
with local clinics and health providers, provide workshops in "Intensive Desert
Gardening" and plant a demonstration garden in Columbus, NM and Palomas.
You've hear it said, "Build it and they will come."
Well, this is an understatement!
The enthusiasm and commitment of all the
stakeholders has kept us tripping over ourselves, but we are humbled and renewed
by the spirit and dedication of many, many fine people to the success of this
endeavor.
Let me share our successes so far:
1.
Work shop space in Columbus has been renovated, new
lighting installed, painted, and handicap toilet installed (almost all with
volunteer labor.
We hired a man expert in adobe repair for that
work).
2.
Work shop space in Palomas has been framed in,
plastered, electrical wiring installed, windows and doors installed, and a
prototype for the dry toilet purchased (all done with volunteer labor).
3.
Weaving workshop by award winning Haida Weaver,
Merle Anderson, happened in Feb.
4.
Beading workshop by Polly and Peter Edmund's son and
daughter-in-law in March.
5.
Solar Cooker demonstration and workshop in March.
6.
40 people attended the dedication of the workshop
space in Palomas in February.
7.
Children's art and language corner built in Palomas
in March (the parents in Palomas want their children to learn English so they
will have more opportunities when they grow up.)
8.
Three women from Mexico obtained a Visitor Permit to
attend the Rag Rug Festival in Las Cruces (two of the women had never been to
the United States before).
9.
We had our first art sale in March and women earned
nearly $300 from the sale of their products.
10.
We attended the Water Fair in Palomas in March and
presented our sustainable technology ideas to the community, which was received
with great enthusiasm.
Leadership: We are all volunteers, retirees, or those with a little extra time that we want to use wisely in service to others. We have lead active lives as special education teachers, construction workers, chaplains, businessmen, writers, private pilots, priest, immigration resettlement official, landscape architect, gardeners, poets, grandmothers, grandfathers, and we want to give back to our wonderful world. Janet and Clint Shepard are co-chair of the Advisory Board, and Rita Holden is Outreach Coordinator.