Naco Wellness Initiative started in 2004, when residents of Bisbee, AZ, began supplying health care and supplies to neighbors in Naco, Sonora, six miles away. In Naco, poverty, chronic illness, unemployment, and illiteracy are widespread. From the beginning, NWI has focused on empowering women and families by offering services identified and requested by the community.

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NWI works in three schools, two clinics, and one 1.5-acre super garden that feeds hundreds of families. The clinics are staffed by Naco women trained as community health workers (Promotoras) to offer services from triage to illness management. The schools now have water purification systems, organic gardens providing healthy snacks, and enhanced libraries. An industrial kitchen serves breakfast at the elementary, and high school students study in a new microbiology lab.