#SaveDaraLuz Update

August 2, 2023

#SaveDaraLuz Update!

Community! THANK YOU for all of the generous contributions we have received in the past several weeks! On June 13th, we sent out our first letter to the community about our financial needs. To date, we have raised just over $30,000 of our first goal of $50,000 by August 31– that’s over 60% raised! This is just over 10% of our next goal of $300,000 by the end of the year. Thank you for your generosity and for being a part of this next chapter of birth center care.

Here are some other Updates:

• We are currently in negotiations with several of our commercial payers on increases to our contracted rates. So far, these discussions have been productive and when we come to an agreement, we feel confident that this will help to close the gap between our expenses and revenue.
• Medicaid reimbursements are set to increase in September. There are exceptional increases for prenatal care, birth and other services that our clients utilize. This is very exciting as Medicaid rates have been stagnant, essentially, for well over a decade. One third of Dar a Luz clients receive Medicaid/Centennial Care benefits.
• Ten DaL staff and 2 board members are currently completing a fundraising training, all the while still operating a birth center! We wear many hats and this is another important one to add to our eclectic collection. Many of you will be hearing from us in the coming weeks!
• We have also applied for several grants with community partners around NM. If you have any suggestions or work for a company that offers grants including matching grants to non-profits, please let us know!

In the next week, there will be an email coming out about a CHALLENGE GRANT to get us to that $50,000 by the end of this month. We are so excited to have so many people share in this opportunity to grow our birth center and expand into these much needed services. Thank you again for contributing to this next phase!

Abigail and the DAL Team