About SHAPE New Mexico.

  • Our Mission.

    Silver Hill Access Point for Education (SHAPE) advocates for marginalized community members by providing low-barrier access to resource navigation, wellness, & holistic community care.

  • Our Purpose.

    SHAPE cultivates stable, sustainable communities that respond to harm by meeting persons where they are—on their terms—with a practice of humility, compassion, and equity. We build spaces of transformative care, networking education, and community resources to develop widespread awareness of systemic discrimination and the scarcity of healthcare access that alienates and marginalizes multitudes of people in our community.

  • Our Story.

    SHAPE NM is a 501(c)3 non-profit brought to you by a collective of individuals at the forefront of Community Health Work, Peer Support Work, Hard Reduction Education, Case Management, Sexual Health Education, Community Members, etc. who have experienced the gaps in care provided in New Mexico. We are those at the front of provide tools to foster care frameworks oriented toward well-being, compassion, and resilience to promote a balanced response to patient self-sufficiency and provider accountability.

veen diagram shaped frame on picture with image if ALbuquerque skyline in the evening with the mountains in the background and the building lit up in the middle and trees around the rio grand in the foreground.

Our Values.

  • Every person’s life is innately valuable and dignified.

  • Evidence-based data and lived experience jointly expand our perspectives.

  • Seeking support ought to be free of shame or judgment. 

  • We build on existing strengths without expectation. 

  • Progress can be more than linear or solitary. 

  • Every step of positive change is worthy of celebration–there is no small step.

  • The pursuit of pleasure is worthwhile in its own right 

  • Autonomy informs our self-awareness and personal care against trauma.

  • We acknowledge that resilience and fostering a connection with others are continual practices.

  • Selfhood and supportive resources—food, housing, and freedom—cultivate healthy and stable neighborhoods and communities.

Meet The Board.

portrait of Jharlyn Angel sitting in front of some greenery, wearing a brown zip up shirt with red medium length hair.

Jharlyn Angel

(She/Her)

Director of Advocacy

“We deserve to experience love fully, equally, without shame and without compromise.”

-Elliot Page

portrait of Chloe Caswell sitting in front of some greenery, wearing a blue and white stripe button up shirt with dirty blonde short length hair.

Chloe Caswell

(They/Them)

Director of Finances

“There is no thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives.”

-Audre Lorde

Maddy Koch

(They/Them)

Interim Director of Research

Don't let anybody, anybody convince you that this is the way the world is and therefore must be. It must be the way it ought to be."

- Toni Morrison

Jess Chancey

(She/They)

Director of Community Relations

“One doesn’t have to operate with great malice to do great harm. The absence of empathy and understanding are sufficient.”

-Charles M. Blow

portrait of Parker Garcia sitting in front of some greenery, wearing a colorful striped button up shirt with black short length hair and a brown wide rim hat.

Parker Garcia

(They/Them)

Board Chair

Director of Operations

“No more shame, no more fear, no more dread!”

-AJJ

portrait of Michèl Poindexter sitting in front of some greenery, wearing a floral button up shirt with pink medium length hair with a side shave and big square glasses.

Michèl Poindexter

(They/Them)

Director of Marketing

"I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept."

-Angela Davis

Want to join the board?

email us at access@shapenm.org for more information on open board positions.

Meet The Staff.

Contact Information

email:

phone number: 1.505.633.1221

TBD (pronouns)

Harm Reduction Care Coordinator

QUOTE

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

  • SHAPE is a community health organization focused specifically on the needs of queer people and other marginalized communities.

  • Everyone! Although we are a queer-focused organization, we aim to support the health of our entire community and to provide harm reduction resources to all of New Mexico.

  • To provide stigma-free support to the community wherever our group sees a need! Currently, our primary focus is on harm reduction, but we plan on expanding to other areas of need in the future.

  • Our main focus is the People’s Vending Machine Project (PVMP): New Mexico’s first(?) harm reduction vending machine! Our goal is to provide free 24/7 access to necessary safe drug consumption and sexual health supplies for people in the Albuquerque area.

    Location and debut to be announced.

  • The goal of harm reduction is to decrease negative health outcomes–like injury, illnesses, and diseases–that may happen due to activities that come with risks, such as drug use or sex. Harm reduction includes things like using condoms/barriers for sex, carrying NARCAN, or using sanitary drug consumption supplies.

    We believe in respecting people’s choices about what they do with their own bodies. Complete sobriety is NOT the only way to be successful! People are going to use drugs and have sex–and they deserve access to safe supplies. Harm reduction is practical, and is based on decades of research and evidence. Most importantly, harm reduction saves lives.

    Learn more about harm reduction here: https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/harm-reduction

  • Bathroom access codes

    We believe that bathroom access is a human right. Many people, especially unhoused and trans/non-binary folks, struggle to find access to safe, clean bathrooms. Our goal is to create a collection of bathroom codes in public places that is routinely updated and added to by the community.

    Provider reviews

    Have you had a great experience with a provider? A bad one? Let us know! We would love to hear first hand experience with providers who support LGBTQIA, POC, and people who use drugs and share this info with the community!

  • What is Naloxone? How do I use it?

    It comes in two forms: injectable and nasal spray. It is used for opioid overdoses but it will not cause harm to individuals overdosing on other substances, however, it will not reverse that overdose

    What to do in case of an overdose? https://www.cdc.gov/stopoverdose/naloxone/index.html?s_cid=DOP_Naloxone_Search_Paid_001&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAlJKuBhAdEiwAnZb7lSt0JfJKgfr6kUJCcDkR4dWNP4PfZopIIFKntF89l3AkaE9wTnc2PBoC6KAQAvD_BwE

    Overdose stuff

    https://harmreduction.org/issues/overdose-prevention/overview/overdose-faqs/

    Naloxone will not harm someone who is overdosing on something other than opioids.

    Will I get in trouble if I am overdosing or if I’m helping someone who is overdosing?

    No, the state of New Mexico has a “Good Samaritan” law that protects the individual who is overdosing and those helping them from arrest or charges.