Community building is essential to the work of any charitable organization. So it must be even more important to Border Partners, a group working with two towns literally right next to each other on the US-Mexico border! Operating primarily in Puerto Palomas – a small Mexican town on the border of Mexico and New Mexico – Border Partners describes its activities as bringing resources to address needs, which in turn help people create change. Families often have members on both sides of the border; the only hospital in the area is not in Palomas, but in a New Mexico town 45 minutes away. Palomas unfortunately faces even more challenges: an unemployment rate of 80 percent, no government assistance, no banks, no natural gas, little firewood. So to face these challenges, Border Partners helps people help themselves in four areas: education, health and recreation, sustainable technology, and economic growth. The first three of these help individuals increase the value of their human capital, and the fourth helps individuals and businesses alike.
