Earth Care is a member-led, BIPOC-led, multi-racial and intergenerational community-based organization with a membership base comprised of Latinx Immigrant, Norteño, Indigenous, and low-income youth and families founded in 2001. Earth Care runs a community center on the Southside of Santa Fe in a low-income neighborhood where many of its members are located.
We believe that communities that are most directly impacted by the social and environmental challenges we face are the best equipped to create the solutions and that our voices should be centered in sustainable community development and social and environmental justice initiatives.
Our work is led by committees, or consejos, comprised of youth, parent leaders, and other impacted community members. Every member of our staff and board are from our community and represent the communities we serve.
In the prior year, our campaigns engaged more than 2,800 members, neighbors and students in environmental and economic justice advocacy.
Over the last two decades, our member leaders have led campaigns engaging 10s of thousands of community members to change policies and practices at the City of Santa Fe, in the schools, and at the state level. We have led community engagement efforts in partnership with local government agencies, school districts, and foundations in order to ensure that our low-income and communities of color have meaningful participation and leadership in community development efforts.
Campaigns we have led or engaged deeply in include:
- The development of a county-wide food access assessment engaging thousands of stakeholders
- The Sustainable Santa Fe Plan- for which we convened the Youth Advisory Board and Chaired the Sustainable Santa Fe Commission and engaged hundreds of residents in the drafting and the City’s adoption of the plan
- The campaign for the Santa Fe Living Wage,
- The solarization of a City building we co-manage with the Boys and Girls Club of northern NM
- Waste reduction policies – like the banning of plastic bags in our City of Santa Fe (a campaign our youth leaders led)
- Renewable energy replacement power for the San Juan Coal Plant and other decisions before the NM Public Regulation Commission that impact our low-income communities as ratepayers
- Community solar legislation
- City and County investments in the solarization of public buildings
- Energy efficiency & community energy block grant legislation
- Relief funding for our youth & families
- Santa Fe’s construction of a Teen Center (for which we engaged thousands of local youth in the design of the facilities and planned programming)
- A community center that we manage that houses educational, social service, mental health, navigation, and cultural programming in partnership with several other community groups
For more info, visit Earth Care NM !