Beneficiaries 2009/2010

FACT (Fine Arts for Children & Teens)

FACT is a visual arts after school program for children at five southside Santa Fe public elementary schools. ARTclub students come from low-income, primarily Hispanic households and would not otherwise have access to an enriching after school program taught by professional educators. In addition to offering rigorous art experiences, ARTclub keeps kids safe during the peak hours that young people are typically victims of crime or engage in criminal activity themselves. FACT’s unique teaching methodology improves student’s language and communication skills, increases self confidence, and encourages creative, independent thinking .

Food Depot

The Food 4 Kids program addresses the crisis of childhood hunger through a partnership with the Santa Fe Public Schools. The overall objective is to offer the opportunity for participation in elementary schools which have 50% or more of their students qualifying for reduced price or free school lunches with a goal of participation of 15 schools. Backpacks for each child are filled with child-friendly foods, enabling children access to nutritious food in the evenings and on weekends when their families may be unable to provide meals at home. Food is delivered to and disseminated from the schools.

Gerard’s House

Gerard’s House provides a safety net of support for children and teens who are grieving the death of a family member or friend. Weekly support groups, summer programs, and crisis response in schools provide emotional and psychological support for grieving preteens and young teens. Without such support, the effects of grief are debilitating – depression, isolation, dropping out of school, substance abuse, early sexual activity, violence, self-abuse and suicide. Gerard’s House provides a nurturing, safe and accepting environment where young people can grow, regain hope, and heal.

Girls on the Run Santa Fe

The program is an experiential learning program, combining a 3.1 mile running event with self-esteem enhancing, uplifting skills building workouts. The program was founded by a tri-athlete, and today there are more than 135 member councils across the U.S and Canada. The after school program provides a safe activity, and the program also focuses on nutrition, self confidence, positive relationships, and goal setting.

Girls Inc. of Santa Fe

Girls have the right to accept and appreciate their bodies and are entitled to thrive in communities that invest in their total physical, mental and emotional wellness. Girls need access to information resources, and skills to be effective partners in promoting their own healthy development. To help ensure that girls have the support they need to take charge of their own health, Girls Inc. has launched the new Mind/Body initiative, which maps out specific activities throughout all Girls Inc. curriculum, relating to four major components: nutrition, physical activity, stress management, and body image.

Heart Gallery

The agency works to insure that no child leaves foster care without a permanent family or hope for the future. In cooperation with CYFD, the agency encourages the adoption of and cultural opportunities for foster children. Photographs are taken of the children and used in traveling exhibits. Events are sponsored, during which eligible children meet prospective families. Additionally, foster children are exposed to cultural enrichment opportunities. Since the first Heart Gallery exhibition in New Mexico which occurred in 2001, the concept has been replicated in 46 states. New Mexico had the leading role in this innovative program.

IMPACT Personal Safety

The organization is dedicated to empowering individuals to defend themselves against verbal, physical and sexual violence. Project PREPARE is a community based project that will provide training through 20 workshops and 34 presentations. By collaborating with nonprofit agencies and schools, the project aims to provide youth with tools to identify, prevent, and stop abuse, so that they may live their lives free from the negative consequences of childhood assault.

La Familia Medical Center

The Center is a community health center providing high quality comprehensive medical services to everyone, with special emphasis on the uninsured and underinsured. The Healthy Children’s Initiative provides comprehensive subsidized medical/dental care for children from inception through their formative years. This includes prenatal care and education, dental care for expectant mothers, follow up after delivery, well child visits, immunizations, children’s dental, Reach out and Read program, and the Car Safety Seat program.

New Vistas

New Vistas provides early intervention to infants and toddlers, birth to three who have or are at risk for developmental delays. Services include evaluations of a child’s strengths and needs, individualized educational experiences, specialized therapies such as physical, occupational, and/or speech and language therapy, family supports that include counseling, infant mental health, service coordination, and transition supports as a child leaves early intervention.

Outside In

The Youth with Promise program presents free weekly guitar, dance & visual arts workshops to juvenile offenders in detention and on probation, to at-risk youth in shelters and residential treatment programs and other underserved youth in the community. The program empowers high-risk youth by enabling them to discover their own creative potential through an immersion into the arts, especially at the critical juncture when they are released from detention. The goal is to alleviate suffering and the sense of abandonment that is so common among confined and institutionalized populations.

Santa Fe Youth Symphony Association

Scholarships will be provided to low income students so that they may participate in music education programs. Scholarships are important to SFYSA’s ability to attract a broad cross section of students. This program will allow an increase in the size of scholarships, particularly in SFYSA’s Mozart y Mariachi public school program where the need tends to be the greatest. Scholarships will average 50% of the tuition and allow at-risk youth a chance to participate in essential arts education which is crucial for learning and development.

St. Elizabeth Shelter

The program ensures that children of homeless families gain access to urgently needed medical and behavioral healthcare, including counseling, as well as educational and recreational activities. These targeted, intensive and specialized services reduce the high rates of physical and emotional illness among these children, identify developmental delays, ensure proper medical treatment and monitor academic progress. Closely aligned is the intensive counseling provided to their parents or guardians in parenting, budgeting, nutrition, job and life skills. These important tools enable systemic change by creating long-term, sustainable improvements in health and life outlook while moving the family into permanent housing.