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Letter from the Editor
Every year, we open our doors to young people who arrive eager to learn, to serve, and to understand a world beyond their own. And every year, I am reminded of how powerful it is to share the story of our border region not as a headline, not as a debate, but as a lived reality shaped by culture, fortitude, and community.
This week, our Creighton SCSJ Bluejay participants walked alongside us through that story. They learned from families navigating immigration systems with courage and hope. They experienced the beauty of our culture, our food, our traditions, and the deep sense of belonging that defines life in the borderland.
We taught them that immigration is not an abstract issue; it is someone’s mother, someone’s child, someone’s dream. We showed them that our culture is not something to observe from a distance, but something to feel, to taste, to celebrate. And we invited them into our personal stories, because understanding begins with human connection.
Watching these young leaders absorb, question, reflect, and grow gives me hope. They remind us that the future is shaped by those willing to listen deeply and act with compassion. If even one of them carries these lessons forward into their classrooms, their careers, their communities, then we have planted something meaningful.
To our Bluejays: thank you for allowing us to guide you through our corner of the world. Thank you for listening to our stories. And thank you for reminding us that when we share our knowledge with youth, we are building bridges that will outlast us.
Mary Carter
Editor & Executive Director
Women’s Intercultural Center
A Bluejay Welcome to Remember
When the Creighton Bluejays arrived in Anthony, they expected sunshine, new experiences, and a chance to serve. What they didn’t expect was the kind of welcome that stays with you long after the trip ends.
That welcome came from Mayor Gabriel Holguin, who greeted our students with genuine warmth and the kind of hospitality that makes Anthony feel like home the moment you arrive. His words carried both pride and purpose, reminding our Bluejays that leadership can begin at any age and what courage looks like stepping up for your community.
Standing before the youngest mayor ever elected in New Mexico history, our students felt something powerful: inspiration. Mayor Holguin spoke about service, fortitude, and believing in your own capacity to make change. For many of our Bluejays, it was the first time they’d met a leader whose story felt so close to their own.
💙🐦 We are deeply grateful for the Mayor’s kindness, his time, and the example he sets for young leaders everywhere. His welcome opened the doors of Anthony and opened hearts, sparked conversations, and set the tone for a week of learning and connection.
Thank you, Mayor Holguin, for reminding the Bluejays that leadership is not defined by age, but by heart, vision, and the courage to serve.
Growing Together: Our February Story
Every month we are here is a blessing. ✨
Not because the work gets easier, but because the impact keeps growing rooted in the dedication of our volunteers and the generosity of our donors. They are the hands, hearts, and voices that make our mission possible.
In February, that impact could be felt in every corner of the Center. From our classes and special workshops to the one‑on‑one services that meet people exactly where they are, we showed up with purpose and compassion. Each moment was a reminder of why we do this work.
We don’t do it to change the world on our own.
We do it so our community can thrive, rise, and change the world themselves. 🌍
As we look back on our February impact, we see growth, fortitude, and hope made possible by everyone who walks through our doors and everyone who stands beside us.
Thank you for growing with us.
The story of WInC is written one month at a time, and we’re grateful you’re part of it.
A Day of Learning, Laughter, & Language Exchange
Learning a new language is tough yet learning it in community changes everything. 🤝 This week, our classroom was buzzing with energy thanks to the incredible SCSJ Bluejay Crew, who jumped right in to help us teach English with patience, kindness, and so much heart.
What made the day even more special was watching our participants and the Bluejays meet each other halfway, English flowing in one direction, Spanish in the other. Suddenly, the room wasn’t just a classroom. It was a true language exchange, full of curiosity, encouragement, and shared laughter over new words and brave attempts.
These moments show us that language is about connection. It’s courage. It’s community showing up for one another.
💙🐦 Thank you, Bluejays, for helping us build a space where everyone learns, everyone teaches, and everyone grows.
Strength Painted in Community
This week was incredibly special. ✨
We hosted our Piedras de Fuerza (Rocks of Strength) workshop, a space where creativity meets healing, and we were thrilled to have the Bluejay Crew join us while they were in town. 🐦💙
Through the simple, grounding act of rock painting, participants explored the emotional, cultural, and generational experiences they carry. Each brushstroke became a moment of reflection. Each color, a memory. Each finished stone, a symbol of strength reclaimed.
What made this workshop even more meaningful was sharing it with the Bluejays. Our WInC community is deeply rooted in self‑care and inviting them into this practice felt like passing on something sacred. We watched them slow down, breathe, and connect with themselves in ways that often get lost in the rush of daily life.
Our hope is that they carry these lessons back home and that they help build a generation that knows how to care for themselves,
so they can better care for others.
Because that’s what Piedras de Fuerza is all about: honoring what we carry, releasing what we no longer need, and choosing strength with intention.
A beautiful moment shared, and a memory we’ll hold close.
One Step Closer to the Dream
The journey to U.S. citizenship is filled with hope, hard work, and moments of doubt yet at WInC no one walks that path alone.
These week inside our classroom, determination met encouragement as our participants pushed through their study sessions with courage and focus. And standing right beside them was the incredible Creighton SCSJ Bluejay Crew, offering patience, guidance, and the kind of support that makes all the difference.
Our Executive Director joined in too, helping break down questions, calm nerves, and remind everyone that progress, no matter how small, is worth celebrating.
What happened this week was community in action. It was students believing in themselves because others believed in them first. It was a room full of people working toward a shared dream: a future built on opportunity, dignity, and belonging.
💙🐦 Thank you, Bluejays, for lifting our participants one step closer to their goal.
With a team like this, anything feels possible.
Where Bluejay Pride Meets Borderland Skies
There’s something unforgettable about the borderland, the way the sky stretches wide enough to hold every dream, every question, every new beginning. Today, our Bluejays stood beneath that endless horizon, soaking in the place where the mountains rise like guardians at the edge of the map. 💙🌵
Out here, the desert light feels different. It softens you, steadies you, reminds you that growth often happens in the quiet spaces between one step and the next. And as our Bluejay Crew looked out across the landscape, you could almost see it happening with perspectives widening, hearts opening, and curiosity taking flight.
Bluejay pride met borderland skies, and for a moment, everything felt connected: the students, the land, the stories carried on the wind. Learning was happening under a vast New Mexico sky, where the world feels both bigger and closer than ever.
Where Reflection Meets Responsibility
Visiting the border fence brings up a wave of unexpected emotions. 🏜️
Some arrive expecting a towering structure, something like the Berlin Wall. Others are surprised to see how the design shifts from one stretch to another, each section telling its own quiet story. And for many, the experience is so heavy that words don’t come right away. It takes time to sit with the feelings that rise like confusion, sadness, anger, empathy, hope.
One thing becomes clear the moment you stand there: immigration is deeply complex, layered with history, policy, humanity, and lived experience. There is no single answer, no simple fix only the ongoing work of listening, learning, and showing up with compassion.
That’s exactly why the Creighton SCSJ Bluejay Crew is here.
Rooted in the pillars of Service and Justice, these students are taking the time to understand the realities of the borderland, not through headlines or assumptions, but through presence. They’re listening to community voices, learning from the ideas already in place, and engaging in meaningful conversations about what ethical, informed leadership can look like in the future.
This visit was a moment of awakening, a reminder that real change begins with awareness and that the next generation of leaders is already paying attention.
Where Service Meets Connection
Service and Justice can be as simple and as powerful as meeting the community around you. 💙 They didn’t just volunteer. They showed up with open hearts, ready to learn, ready to listen, ready to connect.
A quick visit to our crochet class turned into something much more meaningful. What started as curiosity became conversation. What began as a simple drop‑in became a moment of genuine connection with participants like Rosa, who welcomed them with the warmth and wisdom that only community can offer.
This is what Service and Justice look like in real life: not grand gestures, but small moments of presence. Not speaking for others but learning beside them. Not just helping but building relationships that honor dignity and shared humanity.
💙 Thank you, Bluejays, for showing us that the most transformative work often begins with simply showing up.
A Little Bear with a Whole Lot of Heart
Meet the sweetest new addition to Vero’s growing nursery of handmade treasures! 🐻💜 Our crochet instructor has done it again; this time with an adorable bear rattle that’s already stealing hearts.
With her soft purple ruffled collar, matching bow, and that perfectly boop‑able little nose, this tiny bear is ready for all the baby cuddles coming her way. Every detail feels like a hug stitched into yarn, a sign of how much love Vero puts into each piece she creates.
It’s a keepsake.
A memory in the making.
A tiny friend crafted with patience, joy, and the gentlest touch.
And we couldn’t be happier with how she turned out. 💜
A Double Milestone Worth Celebrating
This week brought not one, but two beautiful milestones to the Women’s Intercultural Center and our hearts are still so full.
We officially debuted our very first custom WInC‑style Lotería, a project rooted in culture, creativity, and community pride. And we couldn’t have asked for a better group to share this moment with than the Creighton University Bluejay crew. For many of them, it was their very first time playing, which made the experience even more special. Watching them laugh, learn, and embrace a beloved tradition felt like a celebration of everything WInC stands for. 💙
Yet the magic didn’t stop there.
A huge thank‑you to Sam’s Club, who not only brought snacks but also volunteered and helped run the entire event alongside our team. Their support added so much joy and energy to the evening, turning our Lotería debut into a true community celebration.
This game night was a moment of cultural sharing, connection, and belonging. At WInC when people come together with open hearts, something beautiful always happens.
Here’s to many more rounds of WInC Lotería and many more memories made together.
Celebrating a Champion for Children
We are incredibly proud to celebrate Marisol Bolivar Diaz, a nominee for the Champion for Children Award. Her lifelong commitment to children and families continues to shape systems, strengthen communities, and open doors for future generations.
Marisol’s work often happens behind the scenes inside policy rooms, in grassroots spaces, and in the quiet conversations that help parents step into their own leadership. Yet the impact of that work is felt everywhere. Her dedication to helping families build skills, confidence, and voice ensures that children across New Mexico, Mississippi, Louisiana, and beyond have stronger opportunities and brighter futures.
And true to her spirit, Marisol carries with her a promise: that every niña y niño will always have in her a fierce friend and advocate. That is the essence of fortitude and community‑rooted leadership.
Thank you, Marisol, for leading with humility, courage, and unwavering love for our communities. Thank you for showing us that advocacy is powerful, that parents are leaders, and that change begins with people who care enough to act.
From all of us at the Women’s Intercultural Center: we are honored to stand beside you, believe in you, and cheer you on always.
A Tradition Painted into Legacy
What started as a beautiful tradition has grown into a legacy at the Women’s Intercultural Center. 💙🌵 Every year, our Creighton SCSJ Bluejays travel all the way from Omaha, Nebraska, for their Border Awareness Experience. And with each visit, they leave behind more than memories, they leave a piece of their hearts on our walls. 🎨
These murals are art. They are stories. They are gratitude. They are the fingerprints of students who arrived as visitors and left as family.
Each brushstroke carries a message, a personal touch, and a whole lot of love. Every new addition brings fresh color and life into our building, transforming it into a living gallery of connection, reflection, and shared purpose.
What began as a simple gesture has become one of our most cherished traditions. At WInC community can be built in a week, and family can be found across states, cultures, and experiences.
💙 Thank you to our Bluejays for this incredible gift.
Your legacy lives on our walls and in our hearts.
A Story That Reminds Us Why WInC Matters
Every so often, a review comes along that captures the heart of who we are and Summer’s words do exactly that. Her experience as a volunteer reflects the magic that happens when people walk through our doors with open hearts and leave with a deeper understanding of community, culture, and connection.
From helping in ESL and citizenship classes to creating Easter baskets for children, Summer served and became part of the rhythm of WInC. And her borderland excursion, filled with learning, reflection, and powerful conversations, shows just how transformative this journey can be. Her gratitude for Saif, for Mary, and for the women and families she met speaks to the spirit that makes WInC a place of belonging.
Reviews like Summer’s remind us that WInC is more than a center. It’s a community. A classroom. A home for growth, courage, and shared humanity.
💛 If WInC has inspired you, helped you grow, or opened your eyes to something new, we invite you to share your story too. Your voice helps others discover a place where they can learn, connect, and feel seen.
👉 https://greatnonprofits.org/organizations/browse/search:Women's%20Intercultural%20Center Your story matters and it helps our community shine even brighter.
A Border Awareness Experience Made Just for Them
Every Border Awareness Experience is completely unique, shaped by the incredible people we meet and the places we visit. Our dedicated volunteers always remind each group that their journey is uniquely theirs and they will do whatever it takes to make it special. ❤️
This week, that promise came to life in the most beautiful way.
When one of our group members shared that they had always dreamed of visiting a local fire station, our volunteer didn’t hesitate. They reached out, made a call, and soon enough, Firehouse 36 in El Paso opened their doors with warmth and generosity. 🚒
What followed was more than a tour.
It was a chance to learn, to ask questions, and to understand the unique challenges firefighters face here in the borderland; challenges shaped by geography, community needs, and the realities of life in a binational region. Their stories added a powerful layer to everything our group has been learning throughout the week.
And in return, our students shared their own reflections, weaving together experiences that will stay with them long after they return home.
To the incredible team at Firehouse 36:
Thank you for your service, your hospitality, and the heart you bring to this community. You helped make this Border Awareness Experience unforgettable.
Never a Goodbye—Always Family
Early this morning, we said our goodbyes to our Creighton SCSJ Bluejay Crew. But here at the Women’s Intercultural Center, we know they’re never really goodbyes. Not with this group. Not with the bonds we’ve built. These students arrive as visitors, yet they leave woven into the fabric of our community, forever family.
All week long, they learned with us, laughed with us, served beside us, and opened their hearts to the stories of the borderland. And in return, they shared their own stories, their curiosity, their compassion, and their willingness to grow. Every memory created, every conversation, every shared meal, every moment of reflection stays with us long after the van pulls away.
We wish each of them the very best as they continue their journey through life. Their paths will take them to new places, new challenges, new opportunities. Yet no matter where they go, a piece of their story will always live here, in this community that welcomed them with open arms.
Thank you, Bluejays, for allowing us to be a chapter in your story.
And remember our doors, our hearts, and our home will always be open to you.
Youth Leading the Future of Food and Farming
We had the honor of joining the Anthony Youth Farm for their inspiring “Youth Shaping the Future of Food and Farming” event. 🚜💚
The day was filled with connection, reflection, and hope as we listened, learned, and celebrated the incredible work happening right here in Anthony.
Here’s a glimpse of what made the event so special:
📊 Key findings from the community food assessment gave us a clearer picture of the needs, strengths, and opportunities within our region.
🗣️ Youth shared personal stories about how the farm has shaped their confidence, skills, and sense of purpose.
💡 Community members offered thoughtful ideas for the future with visions rooted in sustainability, equity, and local leadership.
🤝 And perhaps most exciting of all, the new Youth Farm Fellowship was introduced, opening doors for young leaders to grow, lead, and transform their community.
We are SO proud of the dedicated team behind the farm and the amazing young people who are truly shaping the future. Farming is not easy work, it takes resilience, creativity, and heart. Having a resource like the Anthony Youth Farm is a massive win not only for our youth, but for our entire community.
At this event we encountered young people who were given the space to lead, and they not only rose to the occasion, but they also redefined what’s possible.
