In mid-October, the Evaluation Lab drove north to visit some of our great partner organizations in Española.

First, we visited Breath of My Heart Birthplace, a community midwifery practice, where we had an informative conversation with the founder and Executive Director Jessica Gutfreund. Founded in 2010, Breath of My Heart provides home births, on site births, support for new mothers and general medical services for women. Breath of My Heart specifically aims to provide trauma-informed and culturally appropriate care for low income families and women of color. The organization also runs the only apprentice program for new midwives in New Mexico and has a walk-in clinic to make it easy for pregnant women to get prenatal care. Midwifery has long roots in New Mexico, but had nearly vanished with the rise of modern industrial medicine. Breath of My Heart is working to reintroduce the practice of midwifery and its benefits to the Española valley, providing support, a different perspective and care options for women.

Second, we visited Las Cumbres Community Services, where the enthusiastic Stacey Frymier, the Director of Child and Family Services, gave us a guided tour and told us about the organization. Founded in 1970, Las Cumbres began by providing a structured program of day habilitation that trained adults in Los Alamos with developmental disabilities in skills needed for daily living. In 1979, the organization added a preschool for children in the Española valley, and seeing the need for greater child and family mental health services in the community Las Cumbres has continued to expand its child and family mental health services since then.

Finally, we went to El Parasol for a delicious dinner and recap of the day before we returned home!