Doña Ana Communities United

Collaborative Adventures

Building Community Through Partnership

Fix-It Fairs

In partnership with Plugged In for Good, we’ve coordinated three fix-it fairs at elementary schools throughout Las Cruces Public Schools (LCPS) and a community center. These community events bring families together to repair household items, electronics, and small appliances that might otherwise end up in the landfill.

How it Works

Fix-it fairs create a space where community members can bring broken items and work alongside skilled volunteers to learn repair techniques and give their belongings new life. Cruces Creatives provides the technical expertise and repair knowledge, while DACU handles the community outreach, coordination, and relationship-building that makes these events welcoming and accessible to all families.

Who Benefits

These events serve multiple communities at once:

• Families save money by repairing items instead of replacing them
• Students and parents learn valuable repair skills and build confidence in fixing things themselves
• The environment benefits from reduced waste and extended product lifecycles
• Our community grows stronger through neighbors helping neighbors and sharing knowledge

Looking Ahead

We’re excited to continue hosting Fix-It Fairs throughout 2026–2027 through a collaboration between Cruces Creatives, Doña Ana Communities United, and the City of Las Cruces Office of Sustainability. Dates and locations are currently being finalized and will be announced soon.

Want to stay in the loop? Sign up for Fix-It Fairs: Updates & Reminders to be the first to know when upcoming events are scheduled

Contact us at paty@dacommunitiesunited.org for more information.

Project Talk Trial

In January 2025, DACU participated in the Project Talk Trial, a national research initiative focused on advance care planning in underserved communities. This important study, funded by NIH and led by Penn State College of Medicine, aims to help people have meaningful conversations about their end-of-life care wishes.

As one of 75 community organizations across the United States selected to host these conversations and the only participant from New Mexico, we brought this vital resource to our Doña Ana County community. Booker T. Washington Community Elementary School hosted our event, providing a welcoming space for these important conversations. The project addresses a significant health equity issue: underserved populations, including rural and low-income communities like ours, are less likely to engage in advance care planning, which can result in lower-quality end-of-life care.

Learn more about the Project Talk Trial and find our community on their host map.