Introduction
In troubling times, when it seems like all the news is bad, it’s important not to overlook the victories. This month, we are celebrating an inspiring win: New Mexico has become the first state in the country to provide free child care for everyone, regardless of income level. Period. This is a remarkable achievement in a country that provides very few examples of social goods that are offered to everyone—without means testing, work requirements, and other hurdles that create stress and shame among people who most need support. Furthermore, at a time when many states are making plans to cut basic needs programs in the face of budget shortfalls caused by the Big Ugly Bill, New Mexico—one of the poorest states in the country—is doubling down on a policy that will both reduce poverty and invest in the long-term well-being of its residents. By making child care available and accessible to all families, with measures built in to lift up child care as a profession, New Mexico is serving as a beacon to other states and a reminder to policymakers that austerity measures are not the only tool available to them. This victory is also a reminder of the power of our collective voice: The painstaking work of organizing directly impacted people created the movement that gave Governor Grisham the political space to take this bold step.
Keep reading to learn more about the decade-long role of movement organizations and Community Change in this groundbreaking New Mexico win and about how we connect with people on the issues that affect their daily lives to bring them in the broader movement to protect vulnerable communities, restore democracy, and abolish poverty.
Program Pulse
New Mexico is Leading the Way on Child Care
In 2022, after a decade of organizing by child care advocates and parents, New Mexico voters overwhelmingly approved a state constitutional amendment making free, high-quality child care—with good jobs for providers—a universal right in the state. In September 2025, this victory was fully realized when Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham announced that the state would remove an income threshold to make child care free and accessible to every family, regardless of income. Community Change began working with our New Mexico partner Organizers in the Land of Enchantment (OLÉ) in 2014 to support the organizing and strategy it took to achieve this game-changing win. This includes years of training and support in online-to-offline organizing, guidance on policy and campaign strategy, and voter-engagement support on the 2022 ballot measure. Leading up to the governor’s announcement, Community Change continued to work with OLÉ to ensure the commitment to universal child care also lifts up the workforce, for example by encouraging providers to raise base wages and improve child care as a career. As we work to defend vulnerable populations and institutions against the violence of authoritarianism, we also celebrate what our child care movement has made possible in New Mexico—and lift it up as an example of what we aspire to build.
Sick and Tired Bus Tour Launches in Georgia
Community Change Action, Black Voters Matter, and the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network have hit the road for our Sick and Tired Bus Tour through Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. The three groups are talking with Black communities, especially in rural areas, about the challenges they face and their ideas for addressing the health care crisis. While the worst impacts of the Big Ugly Bill have not yet been felt, many rural communities already know what it’s like to live in a “medical care desert.” In Cuthbert, GA, for example, the only hospital closed years ago, forcing residents to travel long distances for routine health care, while emergency services are dangerously far away. Throughout the tour, we are also holding listening sessions with birth workers, grassroots organizers, and health care professionals to explore power-building opportunities in the birth justice field. The tour is part of our plan to deepen organizing in the South, where we are growing a base of people to protect Medicaid while building a more equitable and accessible health care system.
Kids Belong in Classrooms
No matter where they live or where they were born, all children have a right to feel safe at school. But this year, parents and children in many parts of the country are feeling fear and anxiety, as ICE attacks on immigrant families escalate, leaving many afraid to leave the house.
This month, Community Change Action collaborated with national allies to bring attention to the importance of creating welcoming environments for all children and families in childcare programs and schools. On September 24, we hosted a Know Your Rights virtual training for our Childcare Changemakers base of parents and organizers, providing tools and information on how they can protect themselves and their loved ones and build solidarity in their communities. On the 25th, we held a national community call to create space for the broader community to discuss strategies to protect kids in schools from ICE enforcement. Community Change’s North Star is to build a movement to abolish poverty. To achieve this, we must find a path to an immigrant-inclusive democracy that provides basic social and economic protections to everyone, regardless of status.
Before You Go
- Travelling on a multi-state listening tour of immigrant communities, Community Change Co-President Lorella Praeli stopped by Mario’s Westside Market in Las Vegas. As Lorella explains, Mario’s is more than a grocery store—it’s a bridge between Black and Latino communities, a place where everyone feels welcome.
- Read ChangeWire Fellow Bobbi Dempsey’s article in The Guardian about the anxiety family caregivers are feeling as they face cuts to Medicaid and other safety net programs: “Some families say they feel as if they are being attacked from all directions.”
- Community Change Co-President Dorian Warren talks with Dr. André White about life in occupied Washington, DC, on this episode of The Redacted History Podcast.
- Watch Community Change Creator Jy Delgado describe the harm the Big Ugly Bill will cause to low-income communities, while transferring more money to the ultra-rich.
