New Mexico Dream Team (NMDT)

New Mexico Dream Team (NMDT), a fiscally sponsored program of the Center for Civic Policy, was founded in 2014 as a youth-led, grassroots network created by and for New Mexico’s undocumented, LGBTQ+ and Latinx communities. We use connection with the outdoors in our UndocuHealing work to help young people ages 13-25 connect and heal from ongoing stress, isolation, and trauma, and help them develop leadership skills that prepare them for meaningful roles in civic engagement, community organizing, and policy advocacy to promote equitable systems and access for all New Mexicans. UndocuQueer programming is an expansion of UndocuHealing programming to ensure a safe space for our LGBTQ+ community. Originally a University of New Mexico student group, our organization has grown to include 20 chapters on middle, high school, and college campuses and three offices serving the cities and surrounding communities of Santa Fe, Albuquerque, and Las Cruces. To this day, all staff and leadership are Latinx, immigrants, LGBTQ+, or otherwise directly-impacted. As members of a shared community with the youth we serve, we understand what immigrant, undocumented, and queer young persons of color are up against; we have felt those same fears of deportation, isolation, prejudice, and trauma. NMDT provides youth with the supports we know systemic infrastructure does not always provide, from equitable access to resources, opportunities to heal from trauma, connect with the environment, and create pathways to make their voices heard. For instance, during the recent legislative session NMDT youth organizers continued to build on our history of advocacy and youth mobilization around fair immigration and climate protecting policies. The work of youth leaders resulted in the passing of important legislation, such as NM House Bill 15, which allows qualified undocumented minors to apply for residency through special status up to age 21. Support through OEF has been critical over the past several years in delivering a robust curriculum focused on using our state’s open spaces to connect and heal. Since 2020, OEF funding has helped more than 200 NMDT youth to access the outdoors in a variety of formats, including rafting, rock-climbing, backpacking trips, and nature walks. NMDT is proud to inform that since our last time working with the Outdoor Recreation Department, we have opened a field office in Las Cruces. In early 2023, we held the first meeting at NMDT’s Las Cruces location. Since, we have held regular meetings and begun building relationships with NMSU and other educational institutions to engage youth in the region. With the addition of the southern field office, we anticipate the number of youth served through UndocuHealing Outdoors to grow and receive access to healing practices, outdoor recreation, and education around environmental stewardship through this program.