Photo Courtesy of Mary Alice Murphy

Photo: Terry Anderson (second from right) receives the Health Council's Member of the Year Award from Tony Trujillo, Chair Priscilla Lucero and Coordinator Chris DeBolt.

Silver City, New Mexico, July 21, 2014: Grant County Community Health Council honored Terry Anderson with the prestigious Member of the Year award for her efforts, professionally and personally, to advocate for children and youth.

Health Council Coordinator, Chris DeBolt praised Anderson's commitment, "Terry has been a driving force on our Health Council for over 10 years and continues to motivate us all to create a better, healthier and happier childhood for the children of Grant County. She is an inspiration!"

Upon receiving the award, Anderson said, "This is very special. I love my work with the Health Council. There is lots of work to do advocating for children and youth!"

Throughout her life, Anderson has advocated for children and their educational needs. She began her career at historic Saint Mary's Academy, and then developed the child care program at the First United Methodist Church. She spent time with the Head Start Program training teachers. Finally, she joined the staff at Western New Mexico University and, over the course of her career there, she attained the position of Assistant Dean of Early Childhood Education before retiring.

During Anderson's tenure at WNMU, she was recognized in 2010 as one of the 20 Outstanding Women of New Mexico, founded the Challenging Child Conference and helped originate the Community Partnership for Children, a coalition which promotes excellence in child care and addresses family resiliency.

Health Council Chair, Priscilla Lucero said, "Anderson is known for her advocacy to improve the quality of life for children. She has committed her life to seeing that children get the best opportunities in child development and education."

Anderson was also part of the inception of the Higher Education Early Childhood Taskforce which aligned course curriculum at all New Mexico two and four-year institutions so students seeking Associate and Bachelor's degrees can transfer seamlessly between institutions.

Anderson has served as President of the New Mexico Association for the Education of Young Children, a group near and dear to her heart, "The Association has been the foundation, and offers resources, for how to build quality child care programs." Anderson continues to serve on the Association's Policy Committee.

Anderson also served as Agency Representative to the Preconception to Preteen Life Cycle, one of the Health Council's original community groups that resulted from the first community assessment and worked on age-specific issues. In that role, Anderson helped secured the initial funding for the Family Support Centers.

Currently, Anderson serves locally on the Community Partnership for Children, a Health Council community action team, and on the state-wide Early Childhood Comprehensive System.

Lucero adds about Anderson efforts on the Health Council, "She has done an outstanding job representing the Childcare sector o providing valuable knowledge and expertise for the betterment of all people."

The Health Council is composed of 30 community leaders who represent various sectors in the community with the goal of mobilizing resources and affecting police for a greater positive impact on residents overall health. The Health Council is the Health and Wellness Planning Authority of the Grant County Board of Commissioners and supported by Gila Regional Medical Center.

The Community Partnership for Children next meets on Monday, August 11, 2014, from noon to 1 p.m. in the AmBank Board Room, 1609 N. Swan St. The meeting is open and the public encouraged to attend. For more information on the Health Council call (575) 388-1198 or email: healthcouncil@grmc.org<mailto:healthcouncil@grmc.org or visit the Council's webpage at www.gcchc.org.

 

Content on the Beat

WARNING: All articles and photos with a byline or photo credit are copyrighted to the author or photographer. You may not use any information found within the articles without asking permission AND giving attribution to the source. Photos can be requested and may incur a nominal fee for use personally or commercially.

Disclaimer: If you find errors in articles not written by the Beat team but sent to us from other content providers, please contact the writer, not the Beat. For example, obituaries are always provided by the funeral home or a family member. We can fix errors, but please give details on where the error is so we can find it. News releases from government and non-profit entities are posted generally without change, except for legal notices, which incur a small charge.

NOTE: If an article does not have a byline, it was written by someone not affiliated with the Beat and then sent to the Beat for posting.

Images: We have received complaints about large images blocking parts of other articles. If you encounter this problem, click on the title of the article you want to read and it will take you to that article's page, which shows only that article without any intruders. 

New Columnists: The Beat continues to bring you new columnists. And check out the old faithfuls who continue to provide content.

Newsletter: If you opt in to the Join GCB Three Times Weekly Updates option above this to the right, you will be subscribed to email notifications with links to recently posted articles.

Submitting to the Beat

Those new to providing news releases to the Beat are asked to please check out submission guidelines at https://www.grantcountybeat.com/about/submissions. They are for your information to make life easier on the readers, as well as for the editor.

Advertising: Don't forget to tell advertisers that you saw their ads on the Beat.

Classifieds: We have changed Classifieds to a simpler option. Check periodically to see if any new ones have popped up. Send your information to editor@grantcountybeat.com and we will post it as soon as we can. Instructions and prices are on the page.

Editor's Notes

It has come to this editor's attention that people are sending information to the Grant County Beat Facebook page. Please be aware that the editor does not regularly monitor the page. If you have items you want to send to the editor, please send them to editor@grantcountybeat.com. Thanks!

Here for YOU: Consider the Beat your DAILY newspaper for up-to-date information about Grant County. It's at your fingertips! One Click to Local News. Thanks for your support for and your readership of Grant County's online news source—www.grantcountybeat.com

Feel free to notify editor@grantcountybeat.com if you notice any technical problems on the site. Your convenience is my desire for the Beat.  The Beat totally appreciates its readers and subscribers!  

Compliance: Because you are an esteemed member of The Grant County Beat readership, be assured that we at the Beat continue to do everything we can to be in full compliance with GDPR and pertinent US law, so that the information you have chosen to give to us cannot be compromised.