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First Congressional District of New Mexico
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ask.heather@mail.house.gov

In Washington DC
442 Cannon House
Office Building
Washington, DC
20515
202-225-6316 Phone
202-225-4975 Fax
In Albuquerque
20 First Plaza NW
Suite 603
Albuquerque, NM
87102
505-346-6781 Phone
505-346-6723 Fax

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Congresswoman Heather Wilson, First Congressional District of New Mexico


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Good to be Home August 09, 2000
 
Dear Friends, I`m back in Albuquerque for the August "recess" and the Congress will reconvene after Labor Day. I really love the community part of this job and today was the kind of day that just lifts my spirits. This morning I went by Mesa Verde Community Center to to visit with Scott Duran, their activities director and meet with volunteers working with kids this summer. In the computer room Steve Young had a small group of kids playing games against each other on networked computers while an internet site tracked the stock market and another boy built an ancient empire on his Gateway 2000. Steve is finishing his electrical engineering degree at UNM, but he really likes programming computers and investing in the stockmarket. His enthusiasm for both had clearly rubbed off on these kids. He even has them testing new game software from Microsoft. Down the hall, Jennifer Vargas, a Vista volunteer, and Rosalinda Duran were working with a dozen kids in a summer reading program. We talked about their favorite books. Harry Potter (Do you know about every-flavored beans and Quidditch?) . . . Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. . . Charlotte`s Web . . . Little Women. . . . Clifford. We read some and talked some, about dreams and hard work and books taking them anywhere they wanted to go without even leaving their chairs. And I also visited Southwest Creations Collaborative across from the GE plant in the South Valley. The collaborative started in the San Jose parish in 1996. They are a sewing and fabric shop for high-end designers. A group of 25 women employees who run their non-profit like a business and their business like a family. The women make above minimum wage and there is on-site child care for 25 cents an hour. But what I liked most about it was the feeling in the place. People were focussed and working hard, but also very relaxed and friendly. It doesn`t surprise me at all that most of the employees have been with them from the start and turnover is near zero. I talked with Susan Matteucci and Kei Tsuzuki about small scale economic development and what their next steps will be over the table in their break room while children ate strawberries and watermelon on various laps. They gave me one of their lavender saches with a screen print of Our Lady of Guadalupe on it. I`ll have it in my office in Washington and when I inhale the sweet scent I`ll close my eyes and hear sewing machines and children`s laughter and the taste the juice of bright red strawberries. Some lessons about economic development make a greater impression than a thousand Congressional hearings. It`s great to be home, Heather
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