Image: A group of people standing in front of the New Mexico state capital building.

Our Programs

Strong Families brings together organizations and community leaders statewide to build strong communities and create change by and for our families. Our programmatic work is bringing affordable healthcare to every New Mexican, creating greater access to comprehensive reproductive healthcare, and developing the leadership of rural people of color to engage in year-round civic engagement so that our families can thrive.

Civic Engagement Campaigns Partners

Civic Engagement

Civic participation means getting everyday folks involved in the decisions that affect our families and communities.

Strong Families coordinates year-round civic engagement to change policies and shift culture in New Mexico and beyond. We get out the vote and educate community members on the voting process and other changes happening in their local community. We organize gatherings where decision makers, organizations, and families can come together to share their stories, offer ideas for change, and create solutions in collaboration with one another.

As part of our civic engagement strategy, Strong Families does policy work with the community at the center. We organize legislative action days with intergenerational rural New Mexico families and community partners who speak with legislators on the issues that impact their lives. We work with hundreds of community members throughout the year who receive training and resources on how a bill becomes a law, how to advocate for New Mexico families, and tools and discussions on the policies that impact their own families and communities.

Strong Families continues to work on policy solutions that:

  • Provide affordable healthcare for all New Mexico families
  • Create access to comprehensive reproductive healthcare

Campaigns

Strong Families’ campaign work is built from directly working alongside impacted families and communities throughout the state. Along with partner organizations, Strong Families leads on the following campaigns:

New Mexico Together for Healthcare is a campaign led by New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty, Health Action New Mexico, Casa de Salud, and Strong Families. We work with healthcare leaders and providers across the state to bring affordable healthcare to every New Mexican. Visit nmtogether4health.org for more information.

Reproductive Justice is our overall framework for all the reproductive health access and culture shift work that Strong Families engages in year round. We work in coalition to ensure New Mexicans have access to the full spectrum reproductive healthcare they need. Strong Families has led the Respect NM Women efforts that ensure New Mexico remains a place where people can access the reproductive healthcare they need, including abortion care and gender affirming care. We co-lead the Reproductive Health Success Project to ensure that a new comprehensive reproductive health center coming to New Mexico centers the vision of community members and is community-centered.

With our network of partner organizations and community leaders, Strong Families has passed several policies over the years that met the campaign goals created with community leaders and made real impactful change in the lives of New Mexico families.

Some of our Strong Families campaign wins have included:

  • The Healthcare Affordability Fund that brings over $300 million into the state budget annually so that New Mexico families have access to affordable coverage plans.
  • The Respect New Mexico Women and Families Act that repealed the state’s pre Roe v. Wade abortion ban.
  • The Patient’s Debt Collection Protection Act that brought medical debt protections to New Mexico.
  • The State-Administered Health Coverage Plan that set the path to bring Medicaid Forward to New Mexico. Medicaid Forward is an extension of the Medicaid program that allows more state residents access to the program who can’t afford other healthcare coverage options.

Our Partners

Strong Families works with many allied organizations across the state. Check out the work of our partner organizations below. Together we work in alignment across multiple issues to build community and create change for ALL families.