July 20, 2025 • 33 mins
Segment 1: A Home to Bark & Purr
Amber Banda interviews Teresa and Diana Meraz, the mother/ daughter duo from "A Home to Bark and Purr" foster rescue.They talk about how the organization came to be, why a "failed adoption" is not a bad thing, what PB means in the foster world, and how they work with other animal welfare organizations in El Paso.
If you want to help by becoming a foster, giving monetary or in-kind donations, or just want more information or better yet, want to adopt, find them on Instagram @a.home.2bark.and.purr
Segment 2: Full STEAM ahead with Tech Frontier
Amber Banda talks with Valerie Dominguez, Marketing & Communications Manager for Tech Frontier. Do you think STEAM projects like 3D printing and coding are just for kids? WRONG. Tech Frontier is for the adults, and it's never too late to learn about 3D printing, creating your own website, digital skills, and innovating with technology. No matter what your age they have got you covered with various FREE workshops!
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Tech Frontier is the umbrella over Fab Lab, which focuses on kids grades K-12. They focus on the whole family getting a fun, free, and hands-on experience with technology. Be a part of one of El Paso's most innovative organzaitions, and surprise yourself. Learn abou their free workshopsat La Nube every Saturday and Sunday at 1 & 3pm with different themes, and about their upcoming summit with keynote speaker Brittany Brown, Director of Digital Communications with a little ol' agency you may have heard of called NASA.
.
For more information and to keep up to date with their free events follow them on Instagram and Facebook. You can also visit tech-frontier.org
.
Find Sunny999, Power102, 96KHEYCountry, or Amber Banda on Instagram and Facebook for pictures and more information on the El Paso Public Forum segments.
Amber Banda interviews Teresa and Diana Meraz, the mother/ daughter duo from "A Home to Bark and Purr" foster rescue.They talk about how the organization came to be, why a "failed adoption" is not a bad thing, what PB means in the foster world, and how they work with other animal welfare organizations in El Paso.
If you want to help by becoming a foster, giving monetary or in-kind donations, or just want more information or better yet, want to adopt, find them on Instagram @a.home.2bark.and.purr
Segment 2: Full STEAM ahead with Tech Frontier
Amber Banda talks with Valerie Dominguez, Marketing & Communications Manager for Tech Frontier. Do you think STEAM projects like 3D printing and coding are just for kids? WRONG. Tech Frontier is for the adults, and it's never too late to learn about 3D printing, creating your own website, digital skills, and innovating with technology. No matter what your age they have got you covered with various FREE workshops!
.
Tech Frontier is the umbrella over Fab Lab, which focuses on kids grades K-12. They focus on the whole family getting a fun, free, and hands-on experience with technology. Be a part of one of El Paso's most innovative organzaitions, and surprise yourself. Learn abou their free workshopsat La Nube every Saturday and Sunday at 1 & 3pm with different themes, and about their upcoming summit with keynote speaker Brittany Brown, Director of Digital Communications with a little ol' agency you may have heard of called NASA.
.
For more information and to keep up to date with their free events follow them on Instagram and Facebook. You can also visit tech-frontier.org
.
Find Sunny999, Power102, 96KHEYCountry, or Amber Banda on Instagram and Facebook for pictures and more information on the El Paso Public Forum segments.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to El Paso Public Forum, a weekly half hour
public affairs presentation of iHeartRadio El Paso for over twenty years,
featuring local news and interviews of interest to our listeners
in West Texas and southern New Mexico. All views and
opinions expressed on this program are those of the host
and guest, and not necessarily those of iHeartRadio Management and
now El Paso Public Forum.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Welcome back to the El Paso Public Forum. I am
your host, Amberbanda, and today we have two people here
from A Home to Bark and Per. Now, this is
a brand new nonprofit to me. We're going to talk
about it in a little bit. So we have here
Teresa Medas, director and founder of A Home to Bark
in Per. Teresa, thank you for being here with me today.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
Thank you for having us, of course.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
And we have Diana Meda's president community Development and daughter
of Teresa for a Home to Bark and Per. Diana,
thank you for being here with me today.
Speaker 4 (00:53):
Yes, thank you guys for having us here.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Of course. So I found you all on Instagram. I
don't know where I was looking, and it was really
interesting because you had a really cool event that already passed.
It was a I think it had like a drag
show or it was you know, it was in the
month of June, so it was Pride event and you
had some other events. And I said, I have not
heard of this nonprofit, and I'm normally pretty connected to
the nonprofit world, So how long have you guys been around?
Speaker 4 (01:18):
So we started in twenty eighteen, but my mom has
been rescuing with Animal Services and Humane Society since I
was like in middle school, and that was cool a
long time ago.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Like two years ago.
Speaker 4 (01:30):
So she one day one of her friends was like, hey,
you should do a nonprofit and yeah, she hired a lawyer.
We did the five oh one, got our EIA number
in twenty eighteen, and one day she just told me like, hey,
I opened to my own nonprofit and this is AIA
number and this is a name, and I'm like, what
is it. She's like, it's a Home to Bark Emperor.
And I was like, well, that's really long, but we
(01:51):
can work with it.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Right how we started, but I really liked that name.
Teresa twenty eighteen, so that was a couple years before
COVID hit. I imagined that that must have been tough
but before we get in, I want to ask you
about how that went, because that was especially tough on nonprofits.
But when you started this, you had already been fostering
for a while. What made you want to do this nonprofit?
Speaker 3 (02:12):
I guess just helping everything that we see the animals
go through. I did partner up with another rescue that
we fostered for a lot. I had some foster failures
at home.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
So foster failures, what does that mean?
Speaker 3 (02:25):
When you foster and then you end up keeping them?
Speaker 2 (02:28):
I would call that a success. No, I'm like, I fostered,
didn't and I mean, I feel like I failed on those,
but it's not the same failure you're talking about.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
I think it was too that I fostered for her
for her rescue too. It was Missy and who was
the last one, Missy and Nikki? And after that I said, no,
I'm I going to keep anymore, but I do. We
do have a couple at home. But yeah, that's how
it started, just visiting the Humane Society and then visiting
Animal Services and everything that they the help they needed. Hey,
(02:57):
can you just take this one for a couple of days? Okay,
sure will take them. Well, Diana and my son would
also go on into the Humane Society also. Yeah, so
she got attached to She ended up adopting a little
pity from there, a little what people if we call
him pity?
Speaker 2 (03:13):
What is it people?
Speaker 3 (03:14):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Okay, okay, she's.
Speaker 4 (03:15):
Actually still with me. She's fourteen.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
Now, oh cute? Well again, okay, foster failure, I know
the term. Not me. It's going to always going to
be a foster success.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
But then pity.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
Oh and now pits yes, yes, cool, So that's not
just like a an ism with the family. That's like
a known thing when you're talking about foster's.
Speaker 4 (03:33):
Okayscu there was like p PD, so we know what
it is.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
Okay, Well, the mom and the dad ended up at
Animal services since she gave birth to the puppies at
animal services, it's not a good place. Yeah. And then
my friend who worked at Humane Society send her the
picture and I kept telling her, no.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
They already know, they're like this one's going to take
him this.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
Yeah, she ended up taking and my husband too is
in love with her. That's grandpa and grandma so.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
Oh how cute. Well that's when it works, right when
they're up because there's supposed to be a part of
your family. And so Teresa, when COVID hit, I'm interested, Like,
how hard was that to have this fairly new nonprofit
and then have to go through that.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
At first it was a little hard, but I noticed
that a lot of people were working from home, so
a lot of people wanted companions Yeah Smart, So they
would contact me and then I would say okay, so
we would meet. We wouldn't have an event, we would
just meet somewhere at pet Smart and then we exchanged
and say okay, and then they would contact me and
let me know what's going on. But a lot of
(04:31):
people did stay home to work.
Speaker 4 (04:33):
So that's when we started investing into petfinder dot com.
We started posting our dogs on Petfinder. It's also like
somewhere where you can go and it actually it's national,
so like people from New York, people from outside a valpastos,
we'll see our dogs also and they can inquire about
them and we can make arrangements with like a transport company,
or we'll just drive and have a vacation out of it. Yeah,
(04:55):
but that's when we started investing in Petfinder, and we
started investing in our Facebook and our Instagram. Yeah, because
we started noticing the more we post the dogs, the
more people notice them. And since we were doing during COVID, yeah,
that's when we decided this is our opportunity to really
showcase our dogs online.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
Because it was like adopted mom, adopted senior on Facebook, right,
adopted pet? Yeah? So yeah, another example of technology being
used extremely well. And so with how many Okay, I
have a lot of questions swirling through my head right now?
How many animals do you have, like currently or usually?
And where do you keep them?
Speaker 1 (05:28):
Like?
Speaker 2 (05:29):
I mean, get ready, get yeah, I'm ready, I'm sad.
Speaker 3 (05:34):
Well, I have six of my own okay, most of
them are six dogs six okay, they're most six seniors
except the last one. The last two are my husband's failures.
And then my son has two pitbulls re pds. And
then I have how many do I have? Six? Seven?
Speaker 5 (05:51):
Eight?
Speaker 3 (05:51):
I think I have eight right now at home? Eight
fosters fosters okay, so six of your own eight fosters okay,
and two of those six are your husband's well yeah,
and then two are my sons okay.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
Six seven, eight, there's eight totals, so six that are unadoptable.
In other words, right, okay, and they're all doggies. Yes, okay,
and do do because it's a home to Bark and Per.
Do take the kiddies tour.
Speaker 3 (06:14):
Yes, when we have an issue, like the last kitten
we had two kittens was last Christmas. We had two
little babies that they found at the vet and the
vet contacted me, so we took them in and we
we did find homes for them. It's it's kind of
very rare if we do, unless somebody can't we really
need help, Okay, then we'll we'll take them in.
Speaker 4 (06:32):
Really, it's rare for the other cat rescues, so we've
collaborated with cat specifically cat rescues. We do get cats
and we don't have room for them, we collaborate with
them and they usually take them in. And then the
same thing. If they have dogs that they found, they
collaborate with us. So we all work together. Okay, so yeah,
but if we do, if they don't have room, then yes,
my mom will keep the dogs.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
Okay. Foster, yeah, okay, perfect. So again, if you're just
tuning in, we have two people here from a home
to Bark and Per. It's a foster rescue, saving lives,
providing care Finding foster homes. I'm talking with Diana Medras,
President and Community Development, and Teresa Medas, Director and founder.
So now the next question that I have for you
(07:14):
all is you have these events to start fundraising, and
we'll get into a little bit about that, about how
the community can help you all with that. With the
money that you fundraised, where does it go towards? How
do you use it? I mean, I can imagine, you know,
one dog is expensive, but you had, you know.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
Thirty thousand. We recently picked up three puppies with parvo. Okay,
so can you imagine that they didn't know they had parvo.
Speaker 4 (07:38):
Yes, they were found in a canal a Lincoln dairy farm, Yes,
and they were gonna irrigation was going to start, so
the water was going to start going through the canal.
So they called us like, hey, there's these three puppies.
My son was walking around and he saw them. So
they didn't let the water out and so we was
opening them up and then yeah, like two days later
they ended up with parvo. So we've invested in money into.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
That, Okay, So so it all go and then again,
these these dogs that you foster, the goal is to
have other people foster them or it's mainly okay, yeah,
we do have.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
Other fosters that have been with me for years. We
have a family that's awesome. Another friend of mine, her
name's Terry. And then we have Danielle who used to
have a nonprofit but she kind of quit, so I
have more.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
Danielle.
Speaker 5 (08:28):
I know her.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
Yes, yes, she's a biker. I'm a biker. Yesnion, here
she does the baby.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
If I have a baby, she's freak them chimmy. Okay,
here you go. My mom has.
Speaker 4 (08:39):
Fosters all over Alpaso and so like what we do
is and you can apply to be a foster too.
So we're always asking for you fosters because you know,
obviously all our fosters have a little two to three dogs.
We don't want to overwhelm them, right, some of them
even have one. But if you are willing to foster,
we have foster application on our Instagram. If they go
to the link, there's a foster application that they can
apply to be a foster, and it just depends. We
(09:01):
can't tell you how long fostering is because if you
have puppies more than three months for sure, because they
have to get their three shots, then it's maade or
nooter chip and all that stuff. So it does take
some time. But if we have older dogs or you know,
it just depends how adoptions are going. Right now, they're
really slow. So our fosters are have been in with
their foster parents for about a month already or so,
(09:22):
but we can't really tell you how long. But if
you're willing to, you know, donate your time and bring
them to events and get them a new home and
find them a new home, like we're always looking.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
For fosters, so a home to bark and peruse. When
I think of like Animal Services or the Humane Society,
I think of one brick and mortar building, it's not
really I mean, it's your house, right you're having fosters there,
but it's actually like a network of people that you
work with. So it's like an umbrella that they're all
going under. If people wanted to adopt one of these animals,
how do they go about doing that?
Speaker 4 (09:50):
The same thing. You can go to our Instagram. We
have a link that attaches It's called link Tree and
it has all the links so it has an application
you can follow us and dm us tell us who
you're interested in, and then I can like show you
where to get the application, or you could just go
into our bio and then the application is there. Once
you apply, and it asks you who you're interested in.
(10:10):
I send it to my mom and I tell her like, hey,
these people just applied for pocalor Yea or Nanook or
Rose or any don't name them because then yeah, you
gotta like my dog names. Okay, so those are not adoptable,
but if they're interested, I let her know, like, hey,
this is an application for this dog, and then she
calls them right away and sets up a meet and greet.
(10:31):
Have the me and greet, you get an opportunity to
take them for a sleepover to see how it works
with your other dogs or how it works in your household.
And then after that, if you want to adopt them,
then we process the application and then they pay the
adoption fee, which is also recycled money into vet care,
dog food, all that stuff. Right, And then uh, yeah,
so usually the mean greet, we we tell them to
(10:51):
do the me and greed for I mean, not the
sleepover for at least seventy two hours. Yeah, so they
can get a feel of how because you know, there's
the there's a thing called the power of three. So
three days is enough for them to kind of like, Okay,
this is my new home. I'm going to decompress a
little bit. Three weeks they'll start getting into your routine.
Three months they'll actually feel like they're part of the family.
(11:14):
And three years there's still going to be some kind
of like you know, abandonment issues. You know, a lot
of our dogs they've been abandoned or a lot of
our dogs have been found as puppies. They don't understand
love and you know, so they're very timid. So three years,
I mean my mom had a dog for over seven
years and she was still terrified of men. So it's
you know, it's just like they learn your routine and stuff.
(11:35):
But it does is a power of three, Like give
them three days, three weeks, three months to at least
like decompress and feel make them feel like they're part
of your family. Right, So, but yeah, we do meet
and greets. They love you at the meet and greet. Sleepover,
they love the sleepover. We process see adoption, they pay
the adoption fee, and then they find their forever home.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
And I imagine that you guys, would help kind of
give them tips on how to make them adjust to
your house different places. When they do the overnights, do
you guys go on location do or do they just
pick up the Oh.
Speaker 4 (12:03):
Yeah, we do house visits. So if we want to
do a meet and greet, she usually takes the dogs
to their house and then we kind of like scope
out the yard. Oh hey, we notice your friend is
a little hole. Just make sure when you let them
out they might be scared, so they might jump off.
You know, we give them like a little bit of advice.
And the same thing for potty training. Yes, our dogs
are potty trained, but you have to think about when
(12:24):
you go to somebody's house. Yeah, and you're like, hey,
where's the restroom. Yeah, it's the same thing. Like you know,
you want to make sure like, yes, they are potty trained,
but they still need to learn your routine. So we
show them like make sure you use the word outside,
make sure you use the word poop.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
Yeah like that.
Speaker 4 (12:37):
So you have to like talk to them like you're
getting them to your routine and stuff like that. Yeah,
So we help them.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
And so other than financial, you know, people can make
monetary donations. Again, you can find them on Instagram and
Facebook a home to bark and per the number two.
I'm sure if you like when I typed it in
into Instagram and Facebook like it popped up, you can
go there. You can find that application whether you want
to become a foster or adopt one of these dogs
or cats. Do you all accept other than financial donations?
(13:05):
In kind donations like dogs with blanket stuff like that?
Yeah okay, yeah, okay, help and then they can go
and probably message you on there. That way, you guys
can arrange pickup for that. You have the Amazon link too,
yeah okay, okay, and it just sends it straight to you.
That's perfect. So, Teresa, is there anything else that you
would like to tell the listening audience about about this nonprofit?
(13:27):
Or maybe there's an animal that you want to kind
of be a voice for and if you have pictures,
you can send it to me. I will pull so
again for anyone listening on Power one or two point
one on Sunday ninety nine point nine and on ninety
six point three K Country, I will be posting pictures
h this week of the you know, my guests and
(13:47):
the information that we talk about so.
Speaker 5 (13:49):
Well, we're gonna start something probably next month, or we're
going to do a monthly newsletter or okay about maybe
pinpointing one of the dogs that we had in the
past and how they're living now.
Speaker 4 (14:01):
Oh, like before and after. We have one dog, Pecan.
He was found by the Pea Countries. He was in
really bad shape and now he has a great family
and he has brothers and sisters that are all pugs.
And then it's him. He's a little he's a little
pity mix. Oh oh little, he's so tiny, and he's
a great dog. And that family is beautiful and they've
(14:23):
worked with him because he was very he was very
abused and very scared, so they've worked with him and
they love him so much. So we want to do
a story like that, like from where they came from
and then how they're living now. So it's to show
people like they're what their donations are going to, to
show people what we're doing, to let them know like
we're changing the community one dog at a time.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
I love that the mom has an Instagram also.
Speaker 4 (14:45):
On this the pdy.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
Thing.
Speaker 4 (14:50):
Yeah, Pecan and the Pug sisters or something.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
Like, oh that's so cute.
Speaker 3 (14:54):
It's like another one to Una, but she's in Michigan.
She was transferred to Michigan and she's got an instat
GM also.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
Oh yeah, so we want to showcase those yeah, and
on on your Instagram and Facebook. There's also pictures of
the puppies and cats that you have up for adoption
with U. Yes, their stories and everything. So oh good, Okay,
that's good, that's perfect. That's what people want to see.
They want to see pictures, they want to see stories,
and that that helps a lot again using the technology
for good. And then what was the website that you
said you used to help pet finder? So can people
(15:24):
go on there and find you all too?
Speaker 3 (15:25):
Okay?
Speaker 2 (15:26):
Petfinder dot com. So I'm going to ask each of
you individually. Teresa, is there anything else that you would
like to tell the listening audience.
Speaker 3 (15:33):
When we talked about the sleepover, I want to mention
that if you return the doc to us, we're not
going to judge you. That's why we offer that because
it wasn't a match. You know, everybody has their own match,
and if it wasn't that dog, we can always find
another dog to match the family.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
True, it's like with humans that yeah, I mean sleep
like now you're not married with you, I mean.
Speaker 3 (15:55):
No, And that's how we tell them when you take
you know, if it didn't work out, don't don't feel bad.
Don't like you have to keep the dog. We're not
going to judge you. That's why we're offering you this.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
I think that's a big thing that you hit on
right there. It's a big reason why people don't do
this is because they don't want to feel judged if
you know, they're not you know you you Every dog
is not for every family and vice versa. But if
they're open to having that relationship with an animal, then
just you know, go to the next one.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
And we do have our fosters that foster failure also
like yeah, yelle, it's so hilarious to call it failure. Like,
I mean, I get it, I get the term.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
It's funny.
Speaker 3 (16:28):
But like, I okay, you can't go ahead and keep it,
but you're still going to foster for me. And they're like, yes, yes, we.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
Ah, there you go. You're like you still have that space.
We still need that space from you. And Diana, is
there anything else that you would like to tell the
listening audience.
Speaker 4 (16:41):
I just want to say, like, support your local rescues.
My mom does this like she's a teacher too, so
you work, yes, oh my god, she does this on
the side. So you know, like she puts in a
lot of work, and a lot of the local rescues
put in a lot of work. They all work, They
all like contribute, but they want to do this because
it's it's out of the kindness of their heart. You know,
(17:02):
they really want to like change the community and stuff.
So you're not becoming millionaireships, yes, and they're not. All
the money is recycled into like vet care, dog food supplies,
anything like that. Especially for fosters. We provide everything for them.
So whatever they really yes, they need, we pay. You know,
we paid for that too. So that's why we do events.
We don't want to just ask for money. We do events.
So support our events. Go to our We have a
(17:24):
couple events coming up, and look at our Instagram see
what you can sign up for and just support us
in that way. Go to our events. You know, if
we have fundraisers, show up title us. We want to
meet you guys. We want to meet our followers because
we love when you guys support us. And it's just
it's just so nice like ye to see the community
come together.
Speaker 2 (17:42):
That's I can't believe that you work too. That's amazing.
So you know, they need the support, the in kind donations,
the financial donations, the fosters, like you just said, that
was a big thing. If you are going to foster,
they're going to provide the food and and everything.
Speaker 4 (17:55):
And we're also going to have a foster workshop coming
up so they can look at our instagram for that. Well,
foster workshop to let people know what fostering in titles,
because I think people want to foster, but they're scared
because they don't really understand what it means. They think like,
if I foster, I'm going to end up with the dog.
But no, Sometimes you foster, you get the dog adopted
and it's such a great feeling. So because Pecon was
(18:15):
my foster, so that's so I'm like, it's great to
see that he's at a good home. So yeah, look
out for our foster workshop. It's going to be coming
up soon.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
Well, you two are amazing. Thank you for what you're doing.
And I hope that this helps get you some you know,
some money or some volunteers or some fosters and get
these puppies and kiddies a good home. Thank you both
for being here with me today.
Speaker 3 (18:33):
Thank you for having us.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
Welcome back to the al Paso Public Forum. I am
your host AMBERBAMDA and today we have Valerie Domingez. She
is the marketing and communications manager for tech Frontier AKA
and we'll explain some a little bit fab Lab. Valerie,
thank you so much for being here with me today.
Thank you. It's great to be here, of course, so
I'm excited to have you talk talk about this. This
(19:01):
is a very steam or stem focused organization. So Valerie,
what I want you to do first is can you
tell the listening audience tech Frontier fab Lab what's the difference?
Are they the same thing? And what do they do
for the community? Gotcha?
Speaker 3 (19:15):
Gotcha?
Speaker 6 (19:16):
Yes, I know it can be a little bit confusing,
especially as we just did our rebrand last year. So yes,
from the beginning, we started as a fab blah bel
passo about ten years ago. I love that name, by
the way, Yes, fab lab fabrication laboratory Okay, yes, like
fabulous laboratory also yes, So we started at as a
(19:40):
maker space, right, So it's a place where you know,
we have digital fabrication tools like CNC machines, laser cutters,
three D printers, of course, but we started seeing that
there was a need for more tech education here in Olpaso,
so we started doing trips and workshops. We did also
(20:03):
spread I guess the message of maker Spaces across the apastle.
We actually helped to build ten maker spaces across the city.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
And are they Yeah, that is cool.
Speaker 6 (20:15):
Yeah, and there's more and more all across the city
in schools, I know for sure. A lot of libraries, right,
you know, things are changing. Librarians are like, how is
our job changing? A lot of librarians are actually taking
the job of running maker spaces in the schools. So
that's kind of how we started. And then we I
(20:36):
mean we've always done a little bit of adult training
and workshops, but we really leaned into it last year
with our learning pathways. So we've done learning pathways are
kind of like multi week boot camps on three D printing, cybersecurity,
software development. And so we were like, okay, we need
(20:57):
a name that is kind of encompasses a lot a
little bit more of our mission.
Speaker 2 (21:01):
Yeah, that separates the adults from the kids.
Speaker 6 (21:03):
Yes, yeah, and it really makes it clear to the community. Hey,
we do both, right, we don't just do programming for kids.
So that's where the name tech Frontier came along. But
then of course faub bla bl Paso is still alive
and well it's just a name for our K through
twelve STEM right, yeah, or K to tell STEM so.
(21:24):
And now we've moved into the La Nubas Team Discovery.
Speaker 3 (21:27):
Center, perfect place for you guys.
Speaker 6 (21:29):
Yes, so we have our maker Space on the fourth
floor and so yeah, that's the difference between faub blabl
Paso tech Frontier.
Speaker 3 (21:36):
We're all together.
Speaker 2 (21:37):
So the maker Space, because I've been to La Nuba
a few times, it's that one. Since you say it's
on the fourth floor where it's kind of off to
the side right like it's barricaded. I think it's only
open like on certain certain times. But you see like
all the three D printing there. Also, that's you guys, Yeah, yeah,
that's us.
Speaker 6 (21:53):
The whole top floor is actually called the or that
area is called the challenge Its Zone, Okay, so it's
kind of meant to be to challenge people to engineer things,
to make things, and so that's why our makerspace is there,
and like you mentioned, most of our workshops are actually
on the weekends, so Saturdays and Sundays. Anybody can come in.
It's included in their admission. Yes, at La Nube, we
(22:18):
have workshops at one and at three pm different themes
every month. This month we actually want to have one
where people can create their own molds right from scratch.
The super cool skill to be able to have to
if you want to duplicate things in your home, you want,
I want more of these, You can make a mold
and then yeah, during the week of course, people can
come in and look at the three D printers. A
(22:40):
lot of times we'll be making something and it's just
like not everyone is familiar with those tools, So just
just to be able to see it firsthand, I think
is a great learning experience for people.
Speaker 2 (22:51):
I mean, I remember when three D printers just came
out and like what like this came from a printer
And now I want like the farmers' markets and they're
selling like three dy printed dragons and you know, little
makes and models and it's amazing. So tech frontier on
fab Lab, they you know, they exist. At the same
time fab Lab focusing more on k through twelve Tech
Frontier focusing more on the adult So you had kind
(23:13):
of touched on it, Valerie that there's like a boot
camp that lasts for a few weeks that comes with
tech Frontier. So how do people sign up for those?
And give some examples if they did sign up for one,
how can they further their education with tech Frontier? What
are people going to learn from these?
Speaker 6 (23:29):
Yeah, these are super cool programs. For example, we just
finished up our three D Printing Learning Pathway. We graduate
about twenty people and they all got their three D
Printing Master Badge, which is recognized by the Department of Labor.
Speaker 2 (23:46):
Oh wow.
Speaker 6 (23:47):
Yeah, and so it's pretty cool because all our programming,
it's not just Okay, let's sit in front of a
PowerPoint and take some tests. Yeah right, Yeah, there's a
little bit of that. You got to learn the basics.
But where our bookcounts are really different is you really
have to it's project based, right. So these students they
came in and they were challenged to make something, design
(24:07):
something using three D modeling software that they learned for
to solve a problem in the lives of their friends
and family. Right, So it takes a little bit further.
Speaker 5 (24:17):
And then.
Speaker 6 (24:20):
Wish, I know, and then and a little bit more
than that, we actually bring in experts as panelists for
their graduation so they can present to these professionals, get
some feedback, and then afterwards also network with them to
gain some opportunities. So there's kind of a lot to
(24:40):
gain with these programs. The thing is they're they're pretty seasonal.
The great thing is that they are pretty much always free,
but they are dependent on funding, so just depending if
we if we have the funding that time, that's when
they'll come out. So you really have to be tuned
into our social media, uh to know when they're happening
(25:01):
and when to apply. And I mean, we're really happy
that reaction from the public has been growing and people
have been getting more and more excited as they've come
up because we've been getting more and more registrations that
we can deal with.
Speaker 3 (25:15):
Yeah, right, So hopefully you.
Speaker 6 (25:17):
Know, for those funders out there, we want to have
these programs more for the community. We want people learning
about software development, about three D printing in these hands
on ways. So definitely looking forward to having these opportunities
more available for the community.
Speaker 2 (25:32):
And for those people that you know, have the money
to fund and sponsor these events. Can you describe a
little bit more about the benefit of people learning these technologies,
learning about three D printing, you know, so for example,
you said, and by the way, we're talking about tech frontiers,
So when she's talking about students, yes, they have the
fab lab for k through talk, but students could be me,
I'm almost forty and I could you know, it's adults
(25:55):
that can partake in these So for those adults that
made a model to help a friend in their life,
can you give us an example that way, when people
are like, hey, I want to invest in this or
sponsor this, they're investing and they know that hey, this
could actually like solve a problem for a lot of
people or help a lot of people in my community.
Speaker 6 (26:13):
Yeah, no, exactly. So for example, we had one student,
a Pollette Corte, and she came up with a device
called a medi Grip. So she fully three D model
designed this herself. And it's a device where it sounds simple, right,
but with a flick of your finger you can mark
whether you've taken a medication or not. Right, And again
(26:34):
it sounds simple, but for people that struggle with this,
people that are older in age or even I mean
me on an everyday basis, did I take it or not?
It helps prevent overdosing, right, So people can come up
with solutions like that. I mean with three D modeling,
three D printing, anything that you come up with can
become reality. It's a great tool for prototyping. So that's
one thing that we really push for the community. For
(26:56):
small businesses, yeah, to say, hey, you know, you don't
have to spend all this money to.
Speaker 3 (27:03):
Manufacture your product duret.
Speaker 6 (27:05):
Or even just prototype it right. You can come with us.
We do have fabrication services for the community. You can say, hey,
I'm trying to do this, can you help me model it?
We can provide a price and you can start your
business that way.
Speaker 2 (27:19):
That sounds amazing if you're just joining us, I'm very interested.
If you're just joining us. We have Valerie Domingas, who
is the marketing and communications manager for tech Frontier previously
fab Lab. Fab Lab still does exist, but under the
umbrella of tech tech Frontier is what we're learning right now.
So Valerie, what I want to ask you. We talked
a little bit about the services, the difference between tech
(27:39):
Frontier and fab Lab, the events you have at La
Nube at one and three ever every Saturday and Sunday,
and of course the different workshops available for adults through
tech Frontier. What specific gaps or challenges in the Alpaso
community is tech Frontier addressing, right, So.
Speaker 6 (27:59):
One thing that Alpasco really has going for it, Like
our foundation is really strong in aerospace, defense, manufacturing, advanced computing.
We have a lot of opportunity there. But the problem
is that a lot of our talent goes undeveloped or
they leave, right. So that's a huge problem for us.
And why why is this happening? So it could be
(28:21):
because there just aren't enough tech learning opportunities to really
push those people forward, or maybe you know they're interested
but they don't see a clear pathway of how to
get there, or you know, there just aren't enough communities,
like little pockets of people around the city who are
really you know, thinkers, innovators trying to push the envelope.
(28:41):
So that's where tech Frontier comes in. We're like, okay,
we are going to bring these tech opportunities more and
more and new ones.
Speaker 5 (28:48):
Right.
Speaker 6 (28:49):
A lot of things that we bring to the table,
they're the first of its kind, and especially in ol
Paso and then of course, like that's what we're trying
to do is make a clear pathway for people to
know where to go and then also nurture that innovation
community here in ol Paso so that people are not
just learning and then they don't know where.
Speaker 2 (29:09):
To get a job.
Speaker 6 (29:10):
But it's like, Okay, I met this person from the
city of al Paso at tech Frontiers event and they
are guiding me, They're telling me where to go that
type of thing.
Speaker 2 (29:18):
Yeah, I love the way you said that, create a
clear pathway and then where do we go from there?
And that being said again, anyone that would like to donate, sponsor,
you know, these events help them to continue this growth,
you can go to tech dash frontier dot org. Now
we're going to talk about an event coming up, and
I just want to reiterate what you were saying, like,
(29:39):
this isn't just innovative for l Passo. A lot of
people like to say that right for our pass and
I hate that phrase. It's innovative just anywhere. These are
brand new things that are happening in El Paso, so
take advantage. And in October you're going to have a summit.
Can you tell the audience a little bit more about
this summit.
Speaker 6 (29:56):
Yes, so on October ninth, Like you mentioned, it's a
great lik learning opportunity for employers, for educators, any professionals
in the community wanting to see OPUSCLE grow into industry
four point zero. Right. So the summit focuses on three
different areas. So it's K through twelve steam education and
again for those who don't know, steam science, technology, engineering,
(30:19):
art and math, and then innovation incubation and workforce development.
And now these things are really important for bringing APASCLE forward,
but a lot of times they're siloed, right, They're kind
of separate from each other. You know, K through twelve
education doesn't always interact with innovation incubation, right, But the
(30:40):
summit is bringing all these people together. So we're gonna
have expert panelists having super andsightful conversations, and we're really
excited to welcome miss Britney Brown. She's NASA's director of
Digital Communications, so awesome opportunity to learn from her as well.
Speaker 2 (30:56):
I love that, and I love that it's a female.
I mean, I might be biased, but I really love that.
So again October ninth, the second annual Tech Frontier summit
keynote speaker Britney Brown, director of Digital Communications from NASA.
For more information, go to their Instagram at tech Frontier HQ.
You can also find fab Lab on their on Instagram
(31:17):
and then on Facebook tech Frontier or fab lab tech
dash Frontier dot org and of course on Sunday ninety
nine point nine ninety six point three k Hay Country
and Pound two point one you'll find this information as well.
A picture of my guest, Valerie Domingez, marketing and communications
manager for tech Frontier. Now, Valerie, before we finished this,
(31:38):
I was talking to you before this. You're very knowledgeable,
you seem very passionate about what you do. So I
want to let you go and go ahead and tell
the listening audience what do you want them to know
about tech Frontier, about why you do what you do,
or you know, all a call to action fe al
PASO to help you out. Whatever the floor is yours
for the next few minutes.
Speaker 6 (31:58):
Yes, I think I would say one of the biggest
things with Techfrontier is we want people not to be
afraid of technology, not to think I can't do it.
That's not for me.
Speaker 5 (32:09):
Right.
Speaker 6 (32:09):
We get a lot of adults and sometimes older adults
that think that way they haven't had experience with technology,
but then they come to us and here they are
building websites, building apps, three D modeling and three D
printing a solution for their family member. Right, this is possible,
and that's what tech Frontier is trying to tell people. Right,
(32:31):
So definitely follow us on social at tech Frontier HQ
and foul Blab as well foul blab EP, and stay
up to date with our events. Come visit us because
every time you come to our events, you're going to
be inspired, You're going to learn something new, and who knows,
you might be the next person with the big idea
here in Opasos, starting a new business and impacting your community.
(32:54):
So that's what we want to see in ol Paso. Right,
It's happening everyone everywhere else. Why can't it be here? Yeah,
it absolutely can be here. We have the talent, we
have the resources. We just need people in Alpasso to
see themselves and see that they can do it.
Speaker 2 (33:08):
Believe in themselves. Mm hmm, you can do it. Yeah,
just do it, Just do it. Thank you, Ali, Thank
you so much for talking with us today.
Speaker 3 (33:15):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (33:16):
You've been listening to El Paso Public Forum, a weekly
public affairs presentation of iHeartRadio El Paso. If you, your
organization or event would like to be featured on an
upcoming program, please email to ep forum at iHeartMedia dot
com or call us at nine one five three five
one five four zero zero. Tune in again next week
(33:37):
for another additional of El Paso Public Forum. The preceding
program was recorded at the studios of iHeartRadio El Paso
Welcome to El Paso Public Forum, a weekly half hour
public affairs presentation of iHeartRadio El Paso for over twenty years,
featuring local news and interviews of interest to our listeners
in West Texas and southern New Mexico. All views and
opinions expressed on this program are those of the host
and guest, and not necessarily those of iHeartRadio Management and
now El Paso Public Forum.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Welcome back to the El Paso Public Forum. I am
your host, Amberbanda, and today we have two people here
from A Home to Bark and Per. Now, this is
a brand new nonprofit to me. We're going to talk
about it in a little bit. So we have here
Teresa Medas, director and founder of A Home to Bark
in Per. Teresa, thank you for being here with me today.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
Thank you for having us, of course.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
And we have Diana Meda's president community Development and daughter
of Teresa for a Home to Bark and Per. Diana,
thank you for being here with me today.
Speaker 4 (00:53):
Yes, thank you guys for having us here.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Of course. So I found you all on Instagram. I
don't know where I was looking, and it was really
interesting because you had a really cool event that already passed.
It was a I think it had like a drag
show or it was you know, it was in the
month of June, so it was Pride event and you
had some other events. And I said, I have not
heard of this nonprofit, and I'm normally pretty connected to
the nonprofit world, So how long have you guys been around?
Speaker 4 (01:18):
So we started in twenty eighteen, but my mom has
been rescuing with Animal Services and Humane Society since I
was like in middle school, and that was cool a
long time ago.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Like two years ago.
Speaker 4 (01:30):
So she one day one of her friends was like, hey,
you should do a nonprofit and yeah, she hired a lawyer.
We did the five oh one, got our EIA number
in twenty eighteen, and one day she just told me like, hey,
I opened to my own nonprofit and this is AIA
number and this is a name, and I'm like, what
is it. She's like, it's a Home to Bark Emperor.
And I was like, well, that's really long, but we
(01:51):
can work with it.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Right how we started, but I really liked that name.
Teresa twenty eighteen, so that was a couple years before
COVID hit. I imagined that that must have been tough
but before we get in, I want to ask you
about how that went, because that was especially tough on nonprofits.
But when you started this, you had already been fostering
for a while. What made you want to do this nonprofit?
Speaker 3 (02:12):
I guess just helping everything that we see the animals
go through. I did partner up with another rescue that
we fostered for a lot. I had some foster failures
at home.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
So foster failures, what does that mean?
Speaker 3 (02:25):
When you foster and then you end up keeping them?
Speaker 2 (02:28):
I would call that a success. No, I'm like, I fostered,
didn't and I mean, I feel like I failed on those,
but it's not the same failure you're talking about.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
I think it was too that I fostered for her
for her rescue too. It was Missy and who was
the last one, Missy and Nikki? And after that I said, no,
I'm I going to keep anymore, but I do. We
do have a couple at home. But yeah, that's how
it started, just visiting the Humane Society and then visiting
Animal Services and everything that they the help they needed. Hey,
(02:57):
can you just take this one for a couple of days? Okay,
sure will take them. Well, Diana and my son would
also go on into the Humane Society also. Yeah, so
she got attached to She ended up adopting a little
pity from there, a little what people if we call
him pity?
Speaker 2 (03:13):
What is it people?
Speaker 3 (03:14):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Okay, okay, she's.
Speaker 4 (03:15):
Actually still with me. She's fourteen.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
Now, oh cute? Well again, okay, foster failure, I know
the term. Not me. It's going to always going to
be a foster success.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
But then pity.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
Oh and now pits yes, yes, cool, So that's not
just like a an ism with the family. That's like
a known thing when you're talking about foster's.
Speaker 4 (03:33):
Okayscu there was like p PD, so we know what
it is.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
Okay, Well, the mom and the dad ended up at
Animal services since she gave birth to the puppies at
animal services, it's not a good place. Yeah. And then
my friend who worked at Humane Society send her the
picture and I kept telling her, no.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
They already know, they're like this one's going to take
him this.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
Yeah, she ended up taking and my husband too is
in love with her. That's grandpa and grandma so.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
Oh how cute. Well that's when it works, right when
they're up because there's supposed to be a part of
your family. And so Teresa, when COVID hit, I'm interested, Like,
how hard was that to have this fairly new nonprofit
and then have to go through that.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
At first it was a little hard, but I noticed
that a lot of people were working from home, so
a lot of people wanted companions Yeah Smart, So they
would contact me and then I would say okay, so
we would meet. We wouldn't have an event, we would
just meet somewhere at pet Smart and then we exchanged
and say okay, and then they would contact me and
let me know what's going on. But a lot of
(04:31):
people did stay home to work.
Speaker 4 (04:33):
So that's when we started investing into petfinder dot com.
We started posting our dogs on Petfinder. It's also like
somewhere where you can go and it actually it's national,
so like people from New York, people from outside a valpastos,
we'll see our dogs also and they can inquire about
them and we can make arrangements with like a transport company,
or we'll just drive and have a vacation out of it. Yeah,
(04:55):
but that's when we started investing in Petfinder, and we
started investing in our Facebook and our Instagram. Yeah, because
we started noticing the more we post the dogs, the
more people notice them. And since we were doing during COVID, yeah,
that's when we decided this is our opportunity to really
showcase our dogs online.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
Because it was like adopted mom, adopted senior on Facebook, right,
adopted pet? Yeah? So yeah, another example of technology being
used extremely well. And so with how many Okay, I
have a lot of questions swirling through my head right now?
How many animals do you have, like currently or usually?
And where do you keep them?
Speaker 1 (05:28):
Like?
Speaker 2 (05:29):
I mean, get ready, get yeah, I'm ready, I'm sad.
Speaker 3 (05:34):
Well, I have six of my own okay, most of
them are six dogs six okay, they're most six seniors
except the last one. The last two are my husband's failures.
And then my son has two pitbulls re pds. And
then I have how many do I have? Six? Seven?
Speaker 5 (05:51):
Eight?
Speaker 3 (05:51):
I think I have eight right now at home? Eight
fosters fosters okay, so six of your own eight fosters okay,
and two of those six are your husband's well yeah,
and then two are my sons okay.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
Six seven, eight, there's eight totals, so six that are unadoptable.
In other words, right, okay, and they're all doggies. Yes, okay,
and do do because it's a home to Bark and Per.
Do take the kiddies tour.
Speaker 3 (06:14):
Yes, when we have an issue, like the last kitten
we had two kittens was last Christmas. We had two
little babies that they found at the vet and the
vet contacted me, so we took them in and we
we did find homes for them. It's it's kind of
very rare if we do, unless somebody can't we really
need help, Okay, then we'll we'll take them in.
Speaker 4 (06:32):
Really, it's rare for the other cat rescues, so we've
collaborated with cat specifically cat rescues. We do get cats
and we don't have room for them, we collaborate with
them and they usually take them in. And then the
same thing. If they have dogs that they found, they
collaborate with us. So we all work together. Okay, so yeah,
but if we do, if they don't have room, then yes,
my mom will keep the dogs.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
Okay. Foster, yeah, okay, perfect. So again, if you're just
tuning in, we have two people here from a home
to Bark and Per. It's a foster rescue, saving lives,
providing care Finding foster homes. I'm talking with Diana Medras,
President and Community Development, and Teresa Medas, Director and founder.
So now the next question that I have for you
(07:14):
all is you have these events to start fundraising, and
we'll get into a little bit about that, about how
the community can help you all with that. With the
money that you fundraised, where does it go towards? How
do you use it? I mean, I can imagine, you know,
one dog is expensive, but you had, you know.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
Thirty thousand. We recently picked up three puppies with parvo. Okay,
so can you imagine that they didn't know they had parvo.
Speaker 4 (07:38):
Yes, they were found in a canal a Lincoln dairy farm, Yes,
and they were gonna irrigation was going to start, so
the water was going to start going through the canal.
So they called us like, hey, there's these three puppies.
My son was walking around and he saw them. So
they didn't let the water out and so we was
opening them up and then yeah, like two days later
they ended up with parvo. So we've invested in money into.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
That, Okay, So so it all go and then again,
these these dogs that you foster, the goal is to
have other people foster them or it's mainly okay, yeah,
we do have.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
Other fosters that have been with me for years. We
have a family that's awesome. Another friend of mine, her
name's Terry. And then we have Danielle who used to
have a nonprofit but she kind of quit, so I
have more.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
Danielle.
Speaker 5 (08:28):
I know her.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
Yes, yes, she's a biker. I'm a biker. Yesnion, here
she does the baby.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
If I have a baby, she's freak them chimmy. Okay,
here you go. My mom has.
Speaker 4 (08:39):
Fosters all over Alpaso and so like what we do
is and you can apply to be a foster too.
So we're always asking for you fosters because you know,
obviously all our fosters have a little two to three dogs.
We don't want to overwhelm them, right, some of them
even have one. But if you are willing to foster,
we have foster application on our Instagram. If they go
to the link, there's a foster application that they can
apply to be a foster, and it just depends. We
(09:01):
can't tell you how long fostering is because if you
have puppies more than three months for sure, because they
have to get their three shots, then it's maade or
nooter chip and all that stuff. So it does take
some time. But if we have older dogs or you know,
it just depends how adoptions are going. Right now, they're
really slow. So our fosters are have been in with
their foster parents for about a month already or so,
(09:22):
but we can't really tell you how long. But if
you're willing to, you know, donate your time and bring
them to events and get them a new home and
find them a new home, like we're always looking.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
For fosters, so a home to bark and peruse. When
I think of like Animal Services or the Humane Society,
I think of one brick and mortar building, it's not
really I mean, it's your house, right you're having fosters there,
but it's actually like a network of people that you
work with. So it's like an umbrella that they're all
going under. If people wanted to adopt one of these animals,
how do they go about doing that?
Speaker 4 (09:50):
The same thing. You can go to our Instagram. We
have a link that attaches It's called link Tree and
it has all the links so it has an application
you can follow us and dm us tell us who
you're interested in, and then I can like show you
where to get the application, or you could just go
into our bio and then the application is there. Once
you apply, and it asks you who you're interested in.
(10:10):
I send it to my mom and I tell her like, hey,
these people just applied for pocalor Yea or Nanook or
Rose or any don't name them because then yeah, you
gotta like my dog names. Okay, so those are not adoptable,
but if they're interested, I let her know, like, hey,
this is an application for this dog, and then she
calls them right away and sets up a meet and greet.
(10:31):
Have the me and greet, you get an opportunity to
take them for a sleepover to see how it works
with your other dogs or how it works in your household.
And then after that, if you want to adopt them,
then we process the application and then they pay the
adoption fee, which is also recycled money into vet care,
dog food, all that stuff. Right, And then uh, yeah,
so usually the mean greet, we we tell them to
(10:51):
do the me and greed for I mean, not the
sleepover for at least seventy two hours. Yeah, so they
can get a feel of how because you know, there's
the there's a thing called the power of three. So
three days is enough for them to kind of like, Okay,
this is my new home. I'm going to decompress a
little bit. Three weeks they'll start getting into your routine.
Three months they'll actually feel like they're part of the family.
(11:14):
And three years there's still going to be some kind
of like you know, abandonment issues. You know, a lot
of our dogs they've been abandoned or a lot of
our dogs have been found as puppies. They don't understand
love and you know, so they're very timid. So three years,
I mean my mom had a dog for over seven
years and she was still terrified of men. So it's
you know, it's just like they learn your routine and stuff.
(11:35):
But it does is a power of three, Like give
them three days, three weeks, three months to at least
like decompress and feel make them feel like they're part
of your family. Right, So, but yeah, we do meet
and greets. They love you at the meet and greet. Sleepover,
they love the sleepover. We process see adoption, they pay
the adoption fee, and then they find their forever home.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
And I imagine that you guys, would help kind of
give them tips on how to make them adjust to
your house different places. When they do the overnights, do
you guys go on location do or do they just
pick up the Oh.
Speaker 4 (12:03):
Yeah, we do house visits. So if we want to
do a meet and greet, she usually takes the dogs
to their house and then we kind of like scope
out the yard. Oh hey, we notice your friend is
a little hole. Just make sure when you let them
out they might be scared, so they might jump off.
You know, we give them like a little bit of advice.
And the same thing for potty training. Yes, our dogs
are potty trained, but you have to think about when
(12:24):
you go to somebody's house. Yeah, and you're like, hey,
where's the restroom. Yeah, it's the same thing. Like you know,
you want to make sure like, yes, they are potty trained,
but they still need to learn your routine. So we
show them like make sure you use the word outside,
make sure you use the word poop.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
Yeah like that.
Speaker 4 (12:37):
So you have to like talk to them like you're
getting them to your routine and stuff like that. Yeah,
So we help them.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
And so other than financial, you know, people can make
monetary donations. Again, you can find them on Instagram and
Facebook a home to bark and per the number two.
I'm sure if you like when I typed it in
into Instagram and Facebook like it popped up, you can
go there. You can find that application whether you want
to become a foster or adopt one of these dogs
or cats. Do you all accept other than financial donations?
(13:05):
In kind donations like dogs with blanket stuff like that?
Yeah okay, yeah, okay, help and then they can go
and probably message you on there. That way, you guys
can arrange pickup for that. You have the Amazon link too,
yeah okay, okay, and it just sends it straight to you.
That's perfect. So, Teresa, is there anything else that you
would like to tell the listening audience about about this nonprofit?
(13:27):
Or maybe there's an animal that you want to kind
of be a voice for and if you have pictures,
you can send it to me. I will pull so
again for anyone listening on Power one or two point
one on Sunday ninety nine point nine and on ninety
six point three K Country, I will be posting pictures
h this week of the you know, my guests and
(13:47):
the information that we talk about so.
Speaker 5 (13:49):
Well, we're gonna start something probably next month, or we're
going to do a monthly newsletter or okay about maybe
pinpointing one of the dogs that we had in the
past and how they're living now.
Speaker 4 (14:01):
Oh, like before and after. We have one dog, Pecan.
He was found by the Pea Countries. He was in
really bad shape and now he has a great family
and he has brothers and sisters that are all pugs.
And then it's him. He's a little he's a little
pity mix. Oh oh little, he's so tiny, and he's
a great dog. And that family is beautiful and they've
(14:23):
worked with him because he was very he was very
abused and very scared, so they've worked with him and
they love him so much. So we want to do
a story like that, like from where they came from
and then how they're living now. So it's to show
people like they're what their donations are going to, to
show people what we're doing, to let them know like
we're changing the community one dog at a time.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
I love that the mom has an Instagram also.
Speaker 4 (14:45):
On this the pdy.
Speaker 2 (14:49):
Thing.
Speaker 4 (14:50):
Yeah, Pecan and the Pug sisters or something.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
Like, oh that's so cute.
Speaker 3 (14:54):
It's like another one to Una, but she's in Michigan.
She was transferred to Michigan and she's got an instat
GM also.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
Oh yeah, so we want to showcase those yeah, and
on on your Instagram and Facebook. There's also pictures of
the puppies and cats that you have up for adoption
with U. Yes, their stories and everything. So oh good, Okay,
that's good, that's perfect. That's what people want to see.
They want to see pictures, they want to see stories,
and that that helps a lot again using the technology
for good. And then what was the website that you
said you used to help pet finder? So can people
(15:24):
go on there and find you all too?
Speaker 3 (15:25):
Okay?
Speaker 2 (15:26):
Petfinder dot com. So I'm going to ask each of
you individually. Teresa, is there anything else that you would
like to tell the listening audience.
Speaker 3 (15:33):
When we talked about the sleepover, I want to mention
that if you return the doc to us, we're not
going to judge you. That's why we offer that because
it wasn't a match. You know, everybody has their own match,
and if it wasn't that dog, we can always find
another dog to match the family.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
True, it's like with humans that yeah, I mean sleep
like now you're not married with you, I mean.
Speaker 3 (15:55):
No, And that's how we tell them when you take
you know, if it didn't work out, don't don't feel bad.
Don't like you have to keep the dog. We're not
going to judge you. That's why we're offering you this.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
I think that's a big thing that you hit on
right there. It's a big reason why people don't do
this is because they don't want to feel judged if
you know, they're not you know you you Every dog
is not for every family and vice versa. But if
they're open to having that relationship with an animal, then
just you know, go to the next one.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
And we do have our fosters that foster failure also
like yeah, yelle, it's so hilarious to call it failure. Like,
I mean, I get it, I get the term.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
It's funny.
Speaker 3 (16:28):
But like, I okay, you can't go ahead and keep it,
but you're still going to foster for me. And they're like, yes, yes, we.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
Ah, there you go. You're like you still have that space.
We still need that space from you. And Diana, is
there anything else that you would like to tell the
listening audience.
Speaker 4 (16:41):
I just want to say, like, support your local rescues.
My mom does this like she's a teacher too, so
you work, yes, oh my god, she does this on
the side. So you know, like she puts in a
lot of work, and a lot of the local rescues
put in a lot of work. They all work, They
all like contribute, but they want to do this because
it's it's out of the kindness of their heart. You know,
(17:02):
they really want to like change the community and stuff.
So you're not becoming millionaireships, yes, and they're not. All
the money is recycled into like vet care, dog food supplies,
anything like that. Especially for fosters. We provide everything for them.
So whatever they really yes, they need, we pay. You know,
we paid for that too. So that's why we do events.
We don't want to just ask for money. We do events.
So support our events. Go to our We have a
(17:24):
couple events coming up, and look at our Instagram see
what you can sign up for and just support us
in that way. Go to our events. You know, if
we have fundraisers, show up title us. We want to
meet you guys. We want to meet our followers because
we love when you guys support us. And it's just
it's just so nice like ye to see the community
come together.
Speaker 2 (17:42):
That's I can't believe that you work too. That's amazing.
So you know, they need the support, the in kind donations,
the financial donations, the fosters, like you just said, that
was a big thing. If you are going to foster,
they're going to provide the food and and everything.
Speaker 4 (17:55):
And we're also going to have a foster workshop coming
up so they can look at our instagram for that. Well,
foster workshop to let people know what fostering in titles,
because I think people want to foster, but they're scared
because they don't really understand what it means. They think like,
if I foster, I'm going to end up with the dog.
But no, Sometimes you foster, you get the dog adopted
and it's such a great feeling. So because Pecon was
(18:15):
my foster, so that's so I'm like, it's great to
see that he's at a good home. So yeah, look
out for our foster workshop. It's going to be coming
up soon.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
Well, you two are amazing. Thank you for what you're doing.
And I hope that this helps get you some you know,
some money or some volunteers or some fosters and get
these puppies and kiddies a good home. Thank you both
for being here with me today.
Speaker 3 (18:33):
Thank you for having us.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
Welcome back to the al Paso Public Forum. I am
your host AMBERBAMDA and today we have Valerie Domingez. She
is the marketing and communications manager for tech Frontier AKA
and we'll explain some a little bit fab Lab. Valerie,
thank you so much for being here with me today.
Thank you. It's great to be here, of course, so
I'm excited to have you talk talk about this. This
(19:01):
is a very steam or stem focused organization. So Valerie,
what I want you to do first is can you
tell the listening audience tech Frontier fab Lab what's the difference?
Are they the same thing? And what do they do
for the community? Gotcha?
Speaker 3 (19:15):
Gotcha?
Speaker 6 (19:16):
Yes, I know it can be a little bit confusing,
especially as we just did our rebrand last year. So yes,
from the beginning, we started as a fab blah bel
passo about ten years ago. I love that name, by
the way, Yes, fab lab fabrication laboratory Okay, yes, like
fabulous laboratory also yes, So we started at as a
(19:40):
maker space, right, So it's a place where you know,
we have digital fabrication tools like CNC machines, laser cutters,
three D printers, of course, but we started seeing that
there was a need for more tech education here in Olpaso,
so we started doing trips and workshops. We did also
(20:03):
spread I guess the message of maker Spaces across the apastle.
We actually helped to build ten maker spaces across the city.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
And are they Yeah, that is cool.
Speaker 6 (20:15):
Yeah, and there's more and more all across the city
in schools, I know for sure. A lot of libraries, right,
you know, things are changing. Librarians are like, how is
our job changing? A lot of librarians are actually taking
the job of running maker spaces in the schools. So
that's kind of how we started. And then we I
(20:36):
mean we've always done a little bit of adult training
and workshops, but we really leaned into it last year
with our learning pathways. So we've done learning pathways are
kind of like multi week boot camps on three D printing, cybersecurity,
software development. And so we were like, okay, we need
(20:57):
a name that is kind of encompasses a lot a
little bit more of our mission.
Speaker 2 (21:01):
Yeah, that separates the adults from the kids.
Speaker 6 (21:03):
Yes, yeah, and it really makes it clear to the community. Hey,
we do both, right, we don't just do programming for kids.
So that's where the name tech Frontier came along. But
then of course faub bla bl Paso is still alive
and well it's just a name for our K through
twelve STEM right, yeah, or K to tell STEM so.
(21:24):
And now we've moved into the La Nubas Team Discovery.
Speaker 3 (21:27):
Center, perfect place for you guys.
Speaker 6 (21:29):
Yes, so we have our maker Space on the fourth
floor and so yeah, that's the difference between faub blabl
Paso tech Frontier.
Speaker 3 (21:36):
We're all together.
Speaker 2 (21:37):
So the maker Space, because I've been to La Nuba
a few times, it's that one. Since you say it's
on the fourth floor where it's kind of off to
the side right like it's barricaded. I think it's only
open like on certain certain times. But you see like
all the three D printing there. Also, that's you guys, Yeah, yeah,
that's us.
Speaker 6 (21:53):
The whole top floor is actually called the or that
area is called the challenge Its Zone, Okay, so it's
kind of meant to be to challenge people to engineer things,
to make things, and so that's why our makerspace is there,
and like you mentioned, most of our workshops are actually
on the weekends, so Saturdays and Sundays. Anybody can come in.
It's included in their admission. Yes, at La Nube, we
(22:18):
have workshops at one and at three pm different themes
every month. This month we actually want to have one
where people can create their own molds right from scratch.
The super cool skill to be able to have to
if you want to duplicate things in your home, you want,
I want more of these, You can make a mold
and then yeah, during the week of course, people can
come in and look at the three D printers. A
(22:40):
lot of times we'll be making something and it's just
like not everyone is familiar with those tools, So just
just to be able to see it firsthand, I think
is a great learning experience for people.
Speaker 2 (22:51):
I mean, I remember when three D printers just came
out and like what like this came from a printer
And now I want like the farmers' markets and they're
selling like three dy printed dragons and you know, little
makes and models and it's amazing. So tech frontier on
fab Lab, they you know, they exist. At the same
time fab Lab focusing more on k through twelve Tech
Frontier focusing more on the adult So you had kind
(23:13):
of touched on it, Valerie that there's like a boot
camp that lasts for a few weeks that comes with
tech Frontier. So how do people sign up for those?
And give some examples if they did sign up for one,
how can they further their education with tech Frontier? What
are people going to learn from these?
Speaker 6 (23:29):
Yeah, these are super cool programs. For example, we just
finished up our three D Printing Learning Pathway. We graduate
about twenty people and they all got their three D
Printing Master Badge, which is recognized by the Department of Labor.
Speaker 2 (23:46):
Oh wow.
Speaker 6 (23:47):
Yeah, and so it's pretty cool because all our programming,
it's not just Okay, let's sit in front of a
PowerPoint and take some tests. Yeah right, Yeah, there's a
little bit of that. You got to learn the basics.
But where our bookcounts are really different is you really
have to it's project based, right. So these students they
came in and they were challenged to make something, design
(24:07):
something using three D modeling software that they learned for
to solve a problem in the lives of their friends
and family. Right, So it takes a little bit further.
Speaker 5 (24:17):
And then.
Speaker 6 (24:20):
Wish, I know, and then and a little bit more
than that, we actually bring in experts as panelists for
their graduation so they can present to these professionals, get
some feedback, and then afterwards also network with them to
gain some opportunities. So there's kind of a lot to
(24:40):
gain with these programs. The thing is they're they're pretty seasonal.
The great thing is that they are pretty much always free,
but they are dependent on funding, so just depending if
we if we have the funding that time, that's when
they'll come out. So you really have to be tuned
into our social media, uh to know when they're happening
(25:01):
and when to apply. And I mean, we're really happy
that reaction from the public has been growing and people
have been getting more and more excited as they've come
up because we've been getting more and more registrations that
we can deal with.
Speaker 3 (25:15):
Yeah, right, So hopefully you.
Speaker 6 (25:17):
Know, for those funders out there, we want to have
these programs more for the community. We want people learning
about software development, about three D printing in these hands
on ways. So definitely looking forward to having these opportunities
more available for the community.
Speaker 2 (25:32):
And for those people that you know, have the money
to fund and sponsor these events. Can you describe a
little bit more about the benefit of people learning these technologies,
learning about three D printing, you know, so for example,
you said, and by the way, we're talking about tech frontiers,
So when she's talking about students, yes, they have the
fab lab for k through talk, but students could be me,
I'm almost forty and I could you know, it's adults
(25:55):
that can partake in these So for those adults that
made a model to help a friend in their life,
can you give us an example that way, when people
are like, hey, I want to invest in this or
sponsor this, they're investing and they know that hey, this
could actually like solve a problem for a lot of
people or help a lot of people in my community.
Speaker 6 (26:13):
Yeah, no, exactly. So for example, we had one student,
a Pollette Corte, and she came up with a device
called a medi Grip. So she fully three D model
designed this herself. And it's a device where it sounds simple, right,
but with a flick of your finger you can mark
whether you've taken a medication or not. Right, And again
(26:34):
it sounds simple, but for people that struggle with this,
people that are older in age or even I mean
me on an everyday basis, did I take it or not?
It helps prevent overdosing, right, So people can come up
with solutions like that. I mean with three D modeling,
three D printing, anything that you come up with can
become reality. It's a great tool for prototyping. So that's
one thing that we really push for the community. For
(26:56):
small businesses, yeah, to say, hey, you know, you don't
have to spend all this money to.
Speaker 3 (27:03):
Manufacture your product duret.
Speaker 6 (27:05):
Or even just prototype it right. You can come with us.
We do have fabrication services for the community. You can say, hey,
I'm trying to do this, can you help me model it?
We can provide a price and you can start your
business that way.
Speaker 2 (27:19):
That sounds amazing if you're just joining us, I'm very interested.
If you're just joining us. We have Valerie Domingas, who
is the marketing and communications manager for tech Frontier previously
fab Lab. Fab Lab still does exist, but under the
umbrella of tech tech Frontier is what we're learning right now.
So Valerie, what I want to ask you. We talked
a little bit about the services, the difference between tech
(27:39):
Frontier and fab Lab, the events you have at La
Nube at one and three ever every Saturday and Sunday,
and of course the different workshops available for adults through
tech Frontier. What specific gaps or challenges in the Alpaso
community is tech Frontier addressing, right, So.
Speaker 6 (27:59):
One thing that Alpasco really has going for it, Like
our foundation is really strong in aerospace, defense, manufacturing, advanced computing.
We have a lot of opportunity there. But the problem
is that a lot of our talent goes undeveloped or
they leave, right. So that's a huge problem for us.
And why why is this happening? So it could be
(28:21):
because there just aren't enough tech learning opportunities to really
push those people forward, or maybe you know they're interested
but they don't see a clear pathway of how to
get there, or you know, there just aren't enough communities,
like little pockets of people around the city who are
really you know, thinkers, innovators trying to push the envelope.
(28:41):
So that's where tech Frontier comes in. We're like, okay,
we are going to bring these tech opportunities more and
more and new ones.
Speaker 5 (28:48):
Right.
Speaker 6 (28:49):
A lot of things that we bring to the table,
they're the first of its kind, and especially in ol
Paso and then of course, like that's what we're trying
to do is make a clear pathway for people to
know where to go and then also nurture that innovation
community here in ol Paso so that people are not
just learning and then they don't know where.
Speaker 2 (29:09):
To get a job.
Speaker 6 (29:10):
But it's like, Okay, I met this person from the
city of al Paso at tech Frontiers event and they
are guiding me, They're telling me where to go that
type of thing.
Speaker 2 (29:18):
Yeah, I love the way you said that, create a
clear pathway and then where do we go from there?
And that being said again, anyone that would like to donate, sponsor,
you know, these events help them to continue this growth,
you can go to tech dash frontier dot org. Now
we're going to talk about an event coming up, and
I just want to reiterate what you were saying, like,
(29:39):
this isn't just innovative for l Passo. A lot of
people like to say that right for our pass and
I hate that phrase. It's innovative just anywhere. These are
brand new things that are happening in El Paso, so
take advantage. And in October you're going to have a summit.
Can you tell the audience a little bit more about
this summit.
Speaker 6 (29:56):
Yes, so on October ninth, Like you mentioned, it's a
great lik learning opportunity for employers, for educators, any professionals
in the community wanting to see OPUSCLE grow into industry
four point zero. Right. So the summit focuses on three
different areas. So it's K through twelve steam education and
again for those who don't know, steam science, technology, engineering,
(30:19):
art and math, and then innovation incubation and workforce development.
And now these things are really important for bringing APASCLE forward,
but a lot of times they're siloed, right, They're kind
of separate from each other. You know, K through twelve
education doesn't always interact with innovation incubation, right, But the
(30:40):
summit is bringing all these people together. So we're gonna
have expert panelists having super andsightful conversations, and we're really
excited to welcome miss Britney Brown. She's NASA's director of
Digital Communications, so awesome opportunity to learn from her as well.
Speaker 2 (30:56):
I love that, and I love that it's a female.
I mean, I might be biased, but I really love that.
So again October ninth, the second annual Tech Frontier summit
keynote speaker Britney Brown, director of Digital Communications from NASA.
For more information, go to their Instagram at tech Frontier HQ.
You can also find fab Lab on their on Instagram
(31:17):
and then on Facebook tech Frontier or fab lab tech
dash Frontier dot org and of course on Sunday ninety
nine point nine ninety six point three k Hay Country
and Pound two point one you'll find this information as well.
A picture of my guest, Valerie Domingez, marketing and communications
manager for tech Frontier. Now, Valerie, before we finished this,
(31:38):
I was talking to you before this. You're very knowledgeable,
you seem very passionate about what you do. So I
want to let you go and go ahead and tell
the listening audience what do you want them to know
about tech Frontier, about why you do what you do,
or you know, all a call to action fe al
PASO to help you out. Whatever the floor is yours
for the next few minutes.
Speaker 6 (31:58):
Yes, I think I would say one of the biggest
things with Techfrontier is we want people not to be
afraid of technology, not to think I can't do it.
That's not for me.
Speaker 5 (32:09):
Right.
Speaker 6 (32:09):
We get a lot of adults and sometimes older adults
that think that way they haven't had experience with technology,
but then they come to us and here they are
building websites, building apps, three D modeling and three D
printing a solution for their family member. Right, this is possible,
and that's what tech Frontier is trying to tell people. Right,
(32:31):
So definitely follow us on social at tech Frontier HQ
and foul Blab as well foul blab EP, and stay
up to date with our events. Come visit us because
every time you come to our events, you're going to
be inspired, You're going to learn something new, and who knows,
you might be the next person with the big idea
here in Opasos, starting a new business and impacting your community.
(32:54):
So that's what we want to see in ol Paso. Right,
It's happening everyone everywhere else. Why can't it be here? Yeah,
it absolutely can be here. We have the talent, we
have the resources. We just need people in Alpasso to
see themselves and see that they can do it.
Speaker 2 (33:08):
Believe in themselves. Mm hmm, you can do it. Yeah,
just do it, Just do it. Thank you, Ali, Thank
you so much for talking with us today.
Speaker 3 (33:15):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (33:16):
You've been listening to El Paso Public Forum, a weekly
public affairs presentation of iHeartRadio El Paso. If you, your
organization or event would like to be featured on an
upcoming program, please email to ep forum at iHeartMedia dot
com or call us at nine one five three five
one five four zero zero. Tune in again next week
(33:37):
for another additional of El Paso Public Forum. The preceding
program was recorded at the studios of iHeartRadio El Paso
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