Changing Woman Initiative

10/20/2026

Nizhoni Counseling is looking for volunteers to help make our Recovery & Renewal Gathering a welcoming space for connection, healing, and community.

📅 Friday, October 23, 2026
⏰ 8:30 AM – 4:30 PM
📍 Los Duranes, Albuquerque, NM

Join us in creating a space where hope grows, connections are strengthened, and community healing is supported. Every helping hand makes a difference!

📩 Interested in getting involved? Email [email protected] to learn more and become part of this meaningful event.

Together, we can inspire hope, nurture connection, and support healing in our community. 🤝



REMINDER: all posts on this account are for educational purposes only and are not a replacement for a therapeutic relationship or individualized mental health or medical care. ❤️

10/20/2026

📣 Doulas of New Mexico: we want to hear from you.

The 2026 NMDA Doula Workforce Survey is open.

You’re the ones doing this work: supporting families through pregnancy, birth, postpartum, loss, abortion, and everything in between.

You also deal with credentialing, billing, slow payments, and the real cost of keeping a practice going.

Your experience is the evidence that pushes for change.

What we learn will help us:

✊🏽 Push for fair, timely Medicaid and insurance payment
✊🏽 Make credentialing and billing easier to get through
✊🏽 Build training and support that fit what doulas say they need
✊🏽 Take your real experiences to policymakers, payers, and partners across New Mexico

What to know:

• Takes about 15–20 minutes
• Confidential, and results are shared only in aggregate
• “Prefer not to answer” options for sensitive questions
• Finish it and you can enter a drawing for one of ten $50 gift cards
• Open through MONDAY, October 19th.

👉🏽 Take the survey: https://docs.google.com/forms/u/2/d/e/1FAIpQLSevhIsrzC_VLj0EQOdg6Sfy7Z1KFSN9DZgsdMmUsDCTjzxqxw/viewform?usp=send_form

Please share it with doulas you know, including community doulas, full-spectrum doulas, people just starting out, and those who’ve been doing this for decades. Every voice adds to the picture.

When doulas are supported, families are too. 💛

10/20/2026

Saturday, Oct 24
12:30 pm
New Mexico History Museum, Santa Fe

Great Turtle Talks brings together Indigenous wisdom keepers, artists and educators for public conversations rooted in long-held knowledge and directed at the questions facing all of us. The 2026 gathering turns to public education: what it teaches, what it leaves out, and what it must carry forward.

Wisdomkeepers:
🌻 Oren Lyons
🌻 Roxanne Swentzell
🌻 Bob Haozous
🌻 Katsi Cook
🌻 José Barreiro

Learn more and RSVP: greatturtletalks.com

10/20/2026

This week at our "Nest" in Española...

Free Perinatal Support Group
with Isabel Ribe
Thursday, Oct 22
10 am - 12 noon

This is a safe and inclusive space for individuals seeking community and mutual support after birth. These groups are designed to offer emotional and practical assistance, promote mental well-being, and foster a sense of belonging.

We welcome every parent up to three years after giving birth. This group is open to individuals of all backgrounds.

Join us to find solace, understanding, and empowerment within a compassionate community!

This is a free offering but we do ask that you sign up in advance: https://forms.monday.com/forms/67885023c54ab014b9a55f95a161e9f5?r=use1

10/20/2026

The Counseling & Student Support Center is excited to announce our new Period Pod!

Period Pod Ribbon Cutting
October 21, 2026
1:30-3:30 pm • Ben Lujan Library, Outside main entrance

A Period Pod is a free, dedicated, accessible space that provides free menstrual products, promoting menstrual equity, dignity, and well-being, ensuring that no one has to go without essential period care.

This event will include a welcome from President Hector Balderas, followed by a few words from additional college leadership and our community partners.

Come be a part of a community, along with our partners, Free Flow and United Way, that is here to support, empower, and help you thrive.

Special Thanks to Student artists Joycelyn Shroulote & LaJon Nastacio, NNMC Faculty & Staff, Brooke Denton, Ruben Olguin, Khiana Valencia and Martin Shupla.

10/19/2026

From community events with Bold Futures and VetHer Interprise, to conferences and summits with NM Maternal Health Task Force and NMBTF, we’ve been busy showing up, connecting, and partnering in community! Being present alongside our partners is so important to us. Here’s a little recap of last month. If you have an upcoming event, please invite us, we’d love to keep sharing the work CWI is doing and connecting with our community. A big thank you to our amazing partners for inviting us to be conspirators in this revolutionary work.

10/14/2026

We are excited to share these Lactation Informed Birthing Class Series from and La Clinica de Familia. These are open to all expecting parents in Las Cruces and surrounding areas! Topics will include pregnancy, labor and birth, comfort measures and pain management, postpartum preparation, and informed decision-making, with a special focus on lactation and preparing for a confident feeding experience. There are two more class series coming up, one beginning October 20 and the final series beginning November 18. Register through the QR code or through this link: https://bit.ly/4s6BkaH

10/13/2026

📣 Scholarship Opportunity for Doula Training!

The New Mexico Department of Health is offering scholarships for CAPPA Labor and Postpartum Doula Trainings, with in-person trainings taking place in Southern New Mexico.

All are welcome to apply! 💜

Students will enroll with the DOH Medicaid doula credential.

✨ If you’ve been considering becoming a doula or expanding your training, this is an opportunity to apply for support toward your education.

🗓️ Applications close October 31st.

Apply here:
https://forms.cloud.microsoft/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=9GuqBDbUb0K_pAS3pw5g_2lQEvLLPYBNrTFvaB4j2p9UMUxHQ0EyQkQwRTZCWFpBV045SFNIT0hVMi4u&origin=QRCode

10/13/2026