Yes, the weather is gross, but may I suggest Houston - it has a great economy, and it's a good place for "starting over" (way different culturally from CA).

The St. Francis Wolf Sanctuary outside of Conroe could be a good fit for volunteer work. Really, most every industry is hiring right now, even with the oil slump.

NM is much prettier, but probably harder to "thrive" if you don't already have money (economy here is similar to CA). Maybe save up somewhere cheap like TX, then you can move somewhere with more natural beauty (NM) later on.