Women's Intercultural Center

  • Increase font size
  • Default font size
  • Decrease font size
Home About Us

About Us

Historical Perspective

In 1992 the call for overcoming isolation and lack of educational opportunities began with two sisters of Mercy and a group of local women of the Anthony community. A year later, that call was answered by converting a two-car garage as the official site for the Women’s Intercultural Center.  Dramatic increase in program participation created the need for additional space. The “Educational Construction Project,” one of the Center's most successful initiatives, was launched in 2001 to help meet the Center’s growing needs.

 

 

 

A series of community-education sessions about environmentally friendly alterantive methods of construction took place prior to the selection of the used-tired and packed-earth method.  The method was selected because of the following reasons:


  • ENVIRONMENTAL: There are over 3 billion used tires filling our landfills and others littering our desert.  The method in its completed stage would considerably reduce the amount of energy necessary to maintain a comfortable building.
  • ECONOMIC: Tires were plentiful and free, dirt was cheap.  Although this is a very labor-intensive method, it is relatively affordable for thos wanting to build their own home.  The project provided skills-training and paid work for approximately 100 people of the community who were unemployed.  A small group of women used what they learned to start their own tiling business.
  • EDUCATIONAL: This method raised awareness in the community about alternative building methods and educated the community on environmental issues such as: using passive solar energy, water and energy conservation and wter purification.  It was a new concept in the Anthony area that could be applied to the community.

 

 

Today, the Center is housed in this vibrant eco-friendly facility that facilitates our ability to provide educational/development opportunities that help meet the need of Southern NM and West TX.


Since its inception, the Women’s Intercultural Center has been a catalyst for change in the lives of women, a focus the Center continues to achieve through its day to day operations and programs. The Center's three-pronged approach to service intertwines learning opportunities, economic development options, and relationship building with the larger community for purposes of mutual consciousness-raising. Leadership and Spiritual development is also incorporated into all of the organization's programs.


Throughout the years, the Center has received recognition and numerous awards for various aspects of its work. However, no recognition or award could surpass the fact that four (4) out of the eight (8) staff members employed by the Center are former participants that developed their education and employment skills through our programs. The Center has received the following awards:

  • 1997: The Mujeres Unidas Cooperative received the “Community Luminaria” Award from the New Mexico Community Foundation.

  • 2005: Best Practices Award in the field of Economic Development at the 10th Annual Infrastructure Conference sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

  • 2006/2007/2008: Award of Achievement in recognition of the valuable leadership role in helping to create and sustain Women’s Cottage Industry from the NM Women’s Foundation.

  • 2009: NPACT 2009 Certificate of Recognition in recognition of our nomination for Outstanding Collaboration and Innovation Award from the Nonprofit Enterprise Center.
  • 2009 Harry Chapin Self-Reliance Award Winner in recognition for providing economic self-sufficiency opportunities to Women of Southern New Mexico and West Texas effecting change from the grassroots up.
  • 2010 Certificate of Appreciation in recognition for our assistance with Research Involving Outpatient Settings (RIOS) Net for conducting focus groups on the HPV Vaccine Project.
  • 2010 Certificate of Appreciation acknowledging the Center's contributions for Feed Them for a Week Campaign 2009 from the Community Relations Board.

Additionally the success of the organization has been featured in the following books, publications and research documents / presentations:

Frontera Women's Foundation Evaluation Report(C. Vasquez: January 22, 2008) – Evaluation of projects funded by the Frontera Women's Foundation utilizing the Making the Case evaluation tool created by the Women's Funding Network. (pp. 14).

Latina Activists Across Borders: Women’s Grassroots Organizing in Mexico and Texas (M. Peña: 2007 – Published by Duke University Press): The book records the oral histories of women responsible for developing and running NGOs (non governmental organizations) in Mexico and the border cities of El Paso, Texas and Ciudad Juarez to further understand how women organize as activists outside of more privileged academic, feminist settings. (pp. 174).

Implications of Socio-Cultural Factors for the Economic Self-Sufficiency and Health of Women in New Mexico/Texas-Mexico Border Communities: Findings From a Community Based Participatory Research Project (2008 US/Mexico Health Research Symposium: University of Texas at El Paso).

Expanding Pathways to Participation III: Civic Engagement in Real Time Conference featured Ms. Mary Carter, Executive Director of the Women's Intercultural Center, on its Local New Mexico Panel on Civic Engagement.  Ms. Carter shared the examples of the Women's Intercultural Center's innovative civic engagement work which draws upon multiple methods of engagement bridging the rich culture and diversity of the Paso del Norte Region.

Mujeres Abnegadas: The role of border culture upon preventative maternal healthcare and family planning for women in rural U.S. Mexico border colonias. (S. Gubbala: 12/2009).  Ms. Supreetha Gubbala was a former intern of the Women's Intercultural Center.  She conducted an English as a Second Language class as well as developed and implemented a  summer Leadership Empowerment Camp for Young Women ages 14 to 19 years old.

 

The Situation Today

Today the Women’s Intercultural Center is growing as it has extended its services to women beyond the Mesilla Valley.  It is also undergoing an evolutionary process as it has began to incorporate a larger number of collaborations and partnerships to further advance and expand its programs to effectively meet the needs of not only the Anthony community but of the region. Today the Women’s Intercultural Center:

  • Provides safe place where women welcome each other in a mutually supportive environment, breaking down isolation.

  • Provides educational/development opportunities for women to learn English, Citizenship, sewing, art, carpentry, parenting, public speaking, healing arts, and much more to enrich their personal growth and development.

  • Fosters entrepreneurship through educational programs and income producing opportunities that enable the women to produce and market goods and services such as artwork, sewn products, and catering to augment their family income.

  • Provides spiritual and personal growth opportunities through yoga, reflection times and meditation to nurture the heart, mind, and spirit.

  • And provides opportunities for consciousness-raising through exploration and discussion of issues impacting women, the environment, justice, immigration, global economics, and more.

We consider each woman that participates in our center 100% an EXCELLENT INVESTMENT for in developing strong women we are building stronger communities.

 

The Challenge Facing the Women’s Intercultural Center

The Women’s Intercultural Center is challenged to provide up to date programs and services that meet the growing needs of the communities it serves with a limited amount of funds.  Such challenges include:

  • Developing and providing diverse programs/services that meet the high need for the development of skills and self-efficacy for women in Southern NM and West TX.

  • Developing and maintaining community support and networking programs that meet the need for the women to support each other in order to increase their self efficacy, mental health status, and to build their income producing capacities.

  • Meeting the high need for English proficiency classes and courses/programs offered in Spanish.

  • Enhancing the strength of our social support network to encourage women to start their own home/small business through our Small Business Development Academy.

  • Lack of public transportation and the Center’s inability to provide those viable interventions to recruit participants with higher needs.

  • Implementing childcare to our operations for our participants.

  • Developing cultural appropriate programs/services to help women overcome the cultural norms and gender roles with reference to the Mexican culture, exposure to a different set of norms in the U.S., and discrimination around language and documentation.

  • Proving programs/services for women to overcome mental depression linked to isolation due to a lack of opportunity to network with other women, to the familial demands on their time, and to the rise in harsh immigration enforcement activities. This is an area that if not properly address can potentially cause dire consequences to the mental health of the women and possibly members of their families and social networks. This challenge also correlates with the currently high need for mental health interventions among border populations.


The Women’s Intercultural Center will continue responding to the needs of Southern NM and West TX.  As the Center continues to grow and expand its programming it needs to incorporate certain services (i.e. childcare and transportation) to be able to increase the number of participants. The move to incorporate more economic development opportunities requires an increase in space to house a future business incubator for participants of a Small Business Development Academy.