Violence against women is something that is still an issue in modern times, but it also means there are people who stand up against it. Local organization, One Billion Rising, aims to do just that, with their tabling event in Downtown Las Cruces. Other organizations also tabled to bring awareness and to assist women and other groups in Southern New Mexico.
One of the organizations amongst the rest, was the New Mexico Breast Feeding Taskforce. The organization aims to make breast feeding normalized in the workplace. But what does that mean? Well one of the representatives, Jessica Marquez, was able to explain the program more in depth.
“That just means that that they welcome anyone who’s breastfeeding, which, you know, it is the law that you can breastfeed at anytime, anywhere, anyplace,” Marquez said. “Just allowing that to be available for people without anyone feeling that they’re doing anything wrong or that they have to cover up because they don’t have to.”
But in addition to their efforts to make breastfeeding in the workplace more normalized, she also listed the reasons mothers make the switch to formula instead of sticking with breastfeeding.
“A big, big one is work, they have to go back to work and they’re not able to continue breastfeeding,” she said. “But sometimes at the beginning, a lot of moms maybe have issues like maybe their milk didn’t come in and it’s taking a while so they go into the formula, or lot of the providers sometimes don’t have the correct information. So, we try to provide a lot of educational trainings and skill building workshops.”
The LGBTQ+ support organization, Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, also known as PFLAG, was also tabling at the event. PFLAG has chapters all over the country, but their main goal is to support the members of the community that need it, whether it be providing free bag of groceries via their ‘Produce Pop-Ups’ scholarships or even just hosting events for Pride month in June.
Most recently, PFLAG was present at the Pride on the Plaza event in downtown Las Cruces back in October.
One of the members of the chapter, Oziel Villanueva, has been a member for 10 years and has seen the community grow, along with local support.
“It’s very touching and very moving,” Villanueva said “You know, being a member of the LGBTQ+ community myself, I feel very safe here and I feel very welcomed. I can go out myself and also support other people that want to live the same way…And that’s not just members of the LGBTQ+ community, that’s anybody that doesn’t want to feel like their trapped or they can’t feel like they can’t show who they are.”
With recent actions from the Trump Administration, members said the LGBTQ+ community needs help from organizations like PFLAG now more than ever.
“For me, personally, it’s nothing new, you know, we’re going through round two of people trying to challenge again our rights and cause,” he said. “But you know, we don’t back down. We’re going to always be here to support and stand by our own and our general community. Obviously, it’s a bummer and a disappointment to see that we still have to go through these kind of issues and circumstances, but like I said, we’re not going to back down.”
Another organization lending a helping hand to those in need, was the Migrant Education Program in partnership with Las Cruces Public Schools. They aim to help families and children working in the agriculture industry graduate high school or get their GED. According to one of the members, Iggy Campos, the organization is willing to put in a lot of hands-on work.
“We have recruiters that go out and recruit in the whole state of New Mexico and their hours vary,” Campos said. “So if we know that there’s an event going to happen, then we flex our hours and we work around that. We’re here to provide services to our families and students, so if there’s something happening at five in the morning because they’re working in the field and we have to be there, we will show up at five in the morning.”
Needless to say, for those that need help, at least in Southern New Mexico and the greater Las Cruces area, there are local organizations and resources that are available to access and lend a hand.
