FORWARD NM staff, (from left to right) Anna Daggett and Baudelia “Bala” Salgado, celebrated Red Nose Day, the same day their program was awarded funds by the Freeport-McMoRan Foundation.
June 12, 2018; Silver City, NM: Freeport-McMoRan Foundation announced the recipients of its Grant County Community Enhancement Fund (CIF), and Southwest Center for Health Innovation (SWCHI) was honored to be among the recipients receiving funds to support the FORWARD NM program.
“It is an honor to receive this funding to continue efforts to promote careers in health and STEM education to junior high and high school students in the region,” Baudelia “Bala” Salgado, Director of the FORWARD New Mexico (FNM) and Area Health Education Center (AHEC).
The $20,000 awarded to FNM will support the Teen Academy for Health Sciences, a summer program for high school students, and the Dream Makers Clubs, after-school clubs for junior high school students interest in pursuing careers in the field of health care.
Salgado said, “This funding is vital to our FORWARD NM programs, and we are grateful for Freeport-McMoRan Foundation’s continued support.”
FORWARD NM fosters students’ interest in the health care field in hopes they will return as professionals to fill rural New Mexico’s major gap in the health care workforce. Studies have shown that rural students are more likely to enter the health care field, and more likely to return to their roots to practice their chosen profession, especially when they have received support during their formative years.
“The students visit health and science facilities during our programs, including the University of New Mexico Research facilities or Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine in Las Cruces,” said Salgado.
“For many of our students these trips are their first visit to a college campus and the experience provides them with realization that college is a possibility for them,” added Salgado.
Ten nonprofit organizations were awarded a total of $375,000 from the Freeport-McMoRan Foundation. The CIF was established in 2011 as part of Freeport-McMoRan’s objective to support sustainable benefits for the communities in the areas where the company operates to assist the county’s in appropriate ways to ensure their self-sufficiency beyond the presence of the mining operations.
The CIF is governed by a committee of seven community leaders from diverse organizations and two Freeport-McMoRan representatives from Grant County. The community representatives were selected by the Grant County Community Partnership Panel, a stakeholder engagement process established ten years ago to foster open and ongoing dialogue with the community that creates opportunities for the company and the community to work together to develop thoughtful solutions that address priority issues.
The Community Investment Fund Committee cultivates and selects programs to receive financial support based on established criteria to address the priorities identified by the community and strives to assist in the success of recipient programs
For more information on FORWARD NM programs contact Salgado at (575) 597-0030 or email: bsalgado@swchi.org.
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