Making a Change, One City at a Time

Aliyah Martinez, student at the University of New Mexico. (Yesenia Davila/UNM)

Aliyah Martinez, 19, quite literally brings out the best in every single city she lives in. Her father has been serving in the Air Force for the past 20 years so growing up she was always moving around. “I actually didn’t mind it but there were times I just didn’t like where we ended up because the city was a mess!” Martinez explained.

Around the time she turned 14 she decided that it was time to take things into her own hands and begin her own one-woman volunteer troupe. “I wanted to better the cities I was living in…to be honest I also wanted something to put on my college application,” said Martinez.

Aliyah Martinez began small – going out on her own and picking up trash in her neighborhood. Eventually she organized a clean-up crew at her high school in San Antonio, T.X., which then evolved into a fun volunteer group. “It was so much fun getting my friends involved…sometimes we would meet up and take a vote where we volunteer next…a lot of the times we went to the animal shelters.”

That was five years ago. Amazingly, Martinez was able to start and finish high school in San Antonio, which is uncommon for a military kid. By starting her own volunteer project that lasted throughout her high school career she was able to add something interesting to her college

applications. “I ended up getting a water polo scholarship to the University of Illinois…I decided I wanted to keep doing what I was doing so when I got there I started again!”

So how did Aliyah Martinez end up here in Albuquerque? She did not end up enjoying Chicago, I.L. so she decided to join her father at his new duty station and attend school at the University of New Mexico. “I love it here! I love the people, I love my church, the hiking trails here are beautiful,” she exclaimed. But she noticed that there were some problems plaguing the city – the homeless, the drugs, and the trash.

In the beginning, Martinez cleaned up the neighborhoods and parks in Kirtland Air Force Base. She started attending the local Protestant Christian Church, Copper Pointe Church, for their college ministry services and she realized that that is where she would be able to find a lot of volunteers. “It’s crazy how easy it was to find some volunteers but everyone here is so friendly and willing to help…they really believe in this city,” she said about some of the members of W.A.K.E, the college ministry.

But Martinez has a new leg in her journey coming up soon – she enlisted in the Navy and leaves in two months. “I’m a little sad about it because this has been my favorite place to live…but I feel like when I come back to visit [the city is] going to be better,” she said.

Though she will not be here much longer, Martinez plans to continue volunteering her time around the city until she leaves, and when she herself is stationed somewhere new, she is excited to start a new project there.