By Jacey Blue Renner
As their parents age, members of Generations X and Y increasingly find themselves at a crossroads. Many are navigating the delicate shift from being cared for to becoming caregivers — searching for guidance on how to honor their parents’ wishes while ensuring they have every opportunity for lasting health and end-of-life stability.
That’s where Erin Tarica comes in. As founder and executive director of the Family Caregiver Center of New Mexico, she guides families through this challenging transition with kindness, lived experience, and unwavering support. Having navigated the care of her own parents and family members firsthand, Tarica understands the weight of this journey and has made it her mission to open up the conversation around an experience that ultimately touches us all.
“It became a part of, obviously my experience, but my exploration around and curiosity around what is this experience for people who are family members who are completely focused on the care of a loved one,” Tarica says.
Drawing on a tenured background in aging, social services, and program development, Tarica founded the Family Caregiver Center of New Mexico with a singular focus: the caregiver. Since opening its doors to the community three years ago, the Center has become an essential resource for New Mexicans — offering support that goes beyond the practical, to foster resilience, balance, empathy, and stability for caregivers across the state.
Caring for Caregivers
“How I built the services was based on the core needs of family caregivers. They need resources. They need education. They need attention. And they need to increase connection,” she says of the Center’s targeted areas of service assistance.
With well-being for the family caregiver as the locus of all its programs, the Family Caregiver Center of New Mexico offers three core services, all of which are free to those caring for adults 18 years and older:
- Powerful Tools for Caregivers is a six-week, education-based program designed to meet family caregivers where they are. Each week builds on the last, equipping participants with practical strategies to navigate the challenges of caregiving while strengthening their confidence, skill sets, and daily routines. Along the way, participants gain deeper self-awareness, explore meaningful coping strategies, and discover a wealth of community resources available to support them. Offered virtually and in-person throughout the year — with a Spanish-language option available — there’s a format and schedule to fit every caregiver’s life.
- Support Groups are offered both virtually and through in-person library partnerships in Albuquerque (Lomas and Tramway and Erna Fergusson libraries) and Santa Fe (Southside Branch). These groups offer a space for community caregivers to come together in acceptance and understanding, through connection and solution-building. Daytime, evening, virtual and in-person options accommodate each caregiver’s individual scheduling.
- Care Navigation is an essential first step in accessing all the resources the Family Caregiver Center of New Mexico offers. Caregivers can schedule a one-to-one consultation with a Care Navigator to assess the client’s individual needs, work toward creating solutions to specific caregiver challenges, and provide clients with much-needed resources and additional guidance, in addition to curating individual caregiving plans.
Next Steps for Caregivers
“Care navigation is a chance to get resources and support for you as a family caregiver,” Tarica said. “You matter. Your needs matter and your care matters. What we are encouraging is for family caregivers to center themselves in their own care. That is what we want for them.”
Contacting the Family Caregiver Center of New Mexico is the first step in the personal centering process for caregivers who need support. With caregivers reaching out from 29 of 33 New Mexico counties, Tarica and her team are bridging the access gap for caregivers statewide.
“We know that caregivers can’t do this alone. We all need support circles,” Tarica says.
Community Partnerships
“There is a joy in helping family caregivers. We are celebrating them. We are celebrating the work they’re doing. They are the backbone of our care industry. Donating is investing in that care,” Tarica said. “I so welcome people to become donors because it shows that they really want to invest in family caregivers, which has enormous ripple effects in our society”.
Community investment and partnerships pave the way for New Mexicans’ continued free care through the Family Caregiver Center of New Mexico. Each donation is both a partnership and a growth investment in New Mexico’s multigenerational future.
To explore the Family Caregiver Center of New Mexico resources, including dates and times for courses, support groups and more, visit familycaregivernm.org, reach out via email at [email protected] or call 505-584-7862.
