Question: Why did you initiate the 100% Guadalupe initiative?

Lisa Brassell: The model for the 100% New Mexico initiative to make ten vital services accessible to ALL community members perfectly aligned with the mission of our non-profit Lake City Youth & Family Center. We expanded our mission to include all ten vital services and to become the hub to help navigate and link people to the vital services for surviving and thriving. The support and resources of the NMSU-sponsored 100% New Mexico initiative at the Anna, Age Eight Institute strengthen our efforts as change agents in our community.

Question: What are the biggest challenges you want the initiative to address in Guadalupe County?

Lisa Brassell: First, removing the silos of community entities and organizations to facilitate the actions needed for collaboration and collective impact. The second is societal norms as we need to begin the difficult dialogue that reveals the adverse social determinants of health (SDOH) in our community. We need to address, from every angle, the adversity and tolerance (of social adversity and adverse childhood experiences) that has driven generational trauma in our community.

Question: What opportunities and innovations do you want to explore through the 100% Guadalupe initiative?

Lisa Brassell: The opportunity is for community engagement and dialogue. Another opportunity is for collective impact (with a shared vision, goals, mission, and interrelated activities). We are empowering our people to rise above patriarchal oppression and have a voice for change, without the fear of retaliation: change that improves the quality of life in our community and creates options for the youth and their future. It will take education and resources. It will take responsible citizenship, engaged residents, and the power of the people.

Question: What are the goals of the 100% Guadalupe Summit you are planning for Jan. 11th?

Lisa Brassell: The main goal of the 100% Guadalupe Summit, as other summits across New Mexico have done, is to establish unity, bringing together community stakeholders. The coming together of stakeholders from ten service sectors can reveal the barriers to vital services. Our newly published 100% Guadalupe County Report documenting barriers to ten vital services will be presented at the 100% Summit. We will be able to hear each other’s voices to begin the work for real change and strengthen the work that has already been done by committed stakeholders. The goal of the initiative is that 100% of our people can survive AND thrive through access to vital services with the ultimate goal of stopping the generational cycle of childhood trauma. We seek to create a Guadalupe County where 100% can thrive.

Learn more and register for the 100% Guadalupe Summit on Jan. 11, 2024. All interested parties both inside and outside Guadalupe County are encouraged to attend.