New Mexico Native American Indian Nurses Association (NMNAINA) Receives $5,000 Grant

The Homes for Heroes Foundation awarded the New Mexico Native American Indian Nurses Association (NMNAINA) with a $5,000 grant to help provide direct and tangible support to Native American Indian nursing students. Homes for Heroes, Inc. and the Homes for Heroes Foundation are honored to support NMNAINA in their mission to provide scholarships to assist these students pursue their dream of working in healthcare as a nurse.

The NMNAINA Mission

Why was NMNAINA Established?

The New Mexico Native American Indian Nurses Association (NMNAINA) was founded with a clear purpose in 1986, to support Native nurses and student nurses through advocacy and
education.

NMNAINA exists to address these challenges by:

• Encouraging Native American Indian students to enter the nursing profession
• Providing mentorship and support for nursing students
• Creating a community of Native American nurses who advocate for better health outcomes

The organization wishes to respect and preserve cultural beliefs and traditional practices, so they can coexist in harmony and balance with Western Medicine. Elderly patients, especially, need a nurse who respects and understands their preferred ways of healing and who is able to guide the patient towards successful healing.

Although Indigenous people are 11% of New Mexico’s population, only 3% of nurses are Native. Native nursing students tend to be in their late 20’s, 30’s, and 40’s. Many are single parents and the first in their extended family to attend college.

What Does NMNAINA Do to Help Heroes?

NMNAINA believes that representation matters. When Native American Indian students become nurses, they return to serve their communities with empathy, understanding, and a shared cultural connection.

For over a decade, NMNAINA has been a guiding light for Native American Indian nursing students in New Mexico.

“We help Native American nursing students throughout New Mexico, from different pueblos, different tribes, and different schools. We support their learning by fostering education with 1 on 1 mentoring. We also provide a workshop for educators, and sometimes we will do a special workshop for our students as well,” said NMNAINA President, Lucretia Jones.

The organization empowers future nurses through:

• Scholarships – Financial support to cover tuition, books, supplies
• Mentorship Programs – Experienced Native nurses offer guidance, encouragement, and advice
• Cultural Advocacy – Alongside the New Mexico Nursing Association, the NMNAINA ensures Native voices are heard in healthcare conversations
• Professional Development – Workshops, networking, and conference opportunities for growth

As part of the mentoring program, they teach students how to navigate barriers to success; like juggling family responsibilities and college pressures.

Dee Billops, NMNAINA Treasurer, who has been a member of the organization since 1990, had this to say about the students they assist, and the importance of the mentorship initiative the organization provides their students:

“Most of our students are the first person in their family to go to college, so they don’t understand what that’s about. We work with them, one on one, on how to handle family responsibilities, go to school, and still make time for yourself.

We teach them skills, and prepare them for taking exams. For many of them, that can be kind of scary.

We have realized our students are attracted to the program because they are achievers, and they really want to do better. When we develop these relationships, some of them go on and do marvelous things. Then they’ll run into us at Walmart and say, ‘you were there for me when I needed somebody, when I was getting kind of discouraged and my family was telling me to quit. You were there for me.’

Our mentors are really, really important. They help students understand you do not have to give up your culture. You do not have to give up your family. Nursing can be incorporated into those parts of your life, and you can be successful.”

Through these initiatives, NMNAINA helps Native students not only enter the field of nursing but also thrive in it, and help lead it.

How will this Grant be Used to Support Heroes?

The Homes for Heroes Foundation is honored to support NMNAINA with its mission to help Native American Indian nursing students by awarding the organization with a $5,000 grant.

Watch the grant presentation video:

NMNAINA will use the $5,000 grant specifically to fund two $2,500 Student Success Grants that will help two nursing students with their education costs.

Mario Montoya, Homes for Heroes real estate specialist, had this to say about working with Homes for Heroes, supporting his community, and hero organizations like NMNAINA through the Homes for Heroes Foundation:

“With every transaction I close, a portion goes to the Homes for Heroes Foundation and is put towards helping organizations like NMNAINA to assist heroes in need and give back to their community as well. So, you know, I love the fact that I’m a part of something for our communities in New Mexico and a part of something larger that has the same impact nationwide. And, I love that my brokerage has made the commitment to that as well.”

How You can Support the NMNAINA’s Mission

You can help support NMNAINA’s mission by visiting their website and Facebook page.

To make a donation to further support their efforts in providing scholarships and mentors to Native American Nursing students, please mail your donation to:

NMNAINA
Attn: Dee Billops, Treasurer
PO Box 26674
Albuquerque, NM 87125

Foundation grants – Part of Homes for Heroes Circle of Giving

Grants from the Homes for Heroes Foundation are made possible by the Homes for Heroes Circle of Giving and its network of real estate and mortgage professionals. Homes for Heroes, Inc. is committed to providing savings to community heroes; including firefighters, EMS, law enforcement, military (active duty, reserves and veterans), healthcare professionals and teachers.

To expand its Circle of Giving, Homes for Heroes, Inc., donates a portion of its earnings to the Homes for Heroes Foundation. So, every time a hero buys or sells a home using the Homes for Heroes program, they are helping other heroes across the country who are facing a housing crisis or are in need of urgent financial assistance.

If you are interested in learning more about how Homes for Heroes can guide you through the home buying, selling or refinancing process AND save you an average of $3,000 after closing on a home, simply sign up to be connected with our local specialists. They will follow up with you to answer all of your questions.

If you’re interested in learning about our wider impact, simply visit the Homes for Heroes Foundation for more information about recent grants to hero organizations, how much it has awarded, and how it all works.

If you’re interested in supporting and donating to the Homes for Heroes Foundation to assist heroes in need, please visit the donation page to submit your contribution via PayPal. We thank you for your interest and support.