Santa Fe Chapter

Partners in Prevention Takes Off
The Whitney Project, a school based pen pal program dedicated to HIV/AIDS awareness, was born under our fiscal sponsorship years ago. Now part of Santa Fe Cares, The Whitney Project has developed a new program called Partners in Prevention that calls for people with AIDS to make classroom visits, spending two to four hours each visit to talk about sexuality and related issues. Three thousand dollars from us made it possible for Partners in Prevention to respond to requests from schools in Espanola, Pojoaque, Pecos, Mora, Rio Arriba, San Miquel and Taos counties.

Rural Newsletter Survives
La Jicarita is a newsletter printed and distributed in northern NM that links together Penasco, Truchas, Cordova, and other small surrounding communities. By providing accurate news, notices of meetings, and a forum for the lively discussion of common issues, it fosters greater community understanding and reduces isolation. Faced with a funding gap, Kay Matthews and Mark Schiller did not have the funds to produce the newsletter until a grant from the McCune came through months later. Our quick intervention and gift of $1,200 helped bridge that gap and keep the newsletter going.

Ghana Sewing Project
Each year Bread for the Journey looks beyond New Mexico and seeks to meet one of the many pressing needs in our global community. This year we provided $2,000 for Barbara Mueller to help establish a sewing school in Ghana. Barbara raised $8,000 from individual donations, so along with our funds she was able to ensure that the school was established, that the students had the necessary equipment and that the teachers were paid. Already the school is well on its way to being self sufficient by making and selling uniforms that are required by nearby employers.

Elders Theater Opens in Espanola
We were delighted to hear from Fred Rivera at the Espanola Senior Center when he asked us to support the growth of a theater program there. Inspired to tell stories of their families and their communities, a lively group of Espanola seniors wanted to learn some performance skills, develop a theatrical performance and perform their stories for the community. Two thousand dollars from us went a long way toward the purchase of all the equipment they needed for community productions now and in the future.

Penasco Oral History Project Underway
Judy Goldberg, working with innovative teachers in the Penasco schoools, provided the leadership for a group of seventh graders to interview and record the oral histories of older people in the community. We provided $1500 for the purchase of recording and editing equipment, which will remain with the project for future years.

Somos Un Pueblo Unido Starts Kids Writing
Somos is an organization that has a mentoring program with a purpose. Over a period of five months, they assisted 75 high school age children in writing articles for a publication called Choke Cherries. There were 35 mentors and 5 support organizers involved, working under the tireless direction of the small group of writers and Dori Vinella. Our grant of $3,500 made it possible for them to publish their anthology of poetry composed by mentors and students in the project.

Taos Therapeutic Riding Program Off to a Fresh Start
Ready to buy their own land and expand their program, the Taos Therapeutic Riding Program, is dedicated to enhancing the lives of Taos area handicapped children through the experience of caring for horses and horseback riding. Our assistance at this time made it possible for them to pursue an agreement with the Taos schools to provide a program for their special education students. We provided $1500 for the construction of a ramp, training of the horses to use the ramp, and membership in a national association which will give them access to insurance and other benefits.

New Kindergarten Wellness Project
Many children in Santa Fe come to school with few problem-solving skills and some with extremely limited vocabulary. . We provided $400 for the purchase of "I Can Problem Solve" books for the kindergarten teachers and counseling interns to use as a curriculum for two kindergarten classes in the Nava and Larragoite schools. This program allows counselors and teachers to assess the language level of the students and to provide age
appropriate activities which teach the basic vocabulary of alternative methods of dealing with problems

Taos Theater Opens New Production
There are many students in Taos who are involved in theater in the schools and would like to develop their skills in a professional setting with adults. We provided $2000 to Gina Martenson to produce one act plays with teenagers and adults as equals in the production. Under her skillful leadership, adult actors and actresses in the Taos area who are willing to work side by side with these committed teens can now participate in joint productions.

Taos Pueblo Schools Welcomes New Classes
When we met with Eileen Lujan of Taos Pueblo we were impressed by her vision and the depth of her commitment to helping the parents and children she encounters every day in the Taos Day school. We provided $2700 so she could develop a parenting skills curriculum to be used in conjunction with the life skills class she already has underway. Eileen works with parent advisors to adapt the program specifically for use with Native American populations-both the students and the parents.

Native American College Mentoring
Determined to start a mentoring program for Native American students in their first year of college, Tino Juarez contacted us for assistance when he encountered a gap in his funding. Out of money, and waiting for his grants to come through, Tino needed to cover the phone, postage and printing costs necessary for submitting additional proposals and maintaining contact with mentors and students. With a speedy $1,000 grant from us, the fall 2000 school year found twenty Native American students ready to begin college with the heartfelt support of nearby mentors who have faced similar circumstances. With the education and support provided by The Mentoring Group to college personnel, mentors and students, Tino Juarez intends to make it easier for Native American youth to succeed once they begin attending colleges and universities throughout the country.

Working With Others Expands our Service
Each year we provide about $800 to Fairview Pharmacy to cover the cost of prescriptions the Española High School nurses see are needed by students, but which the students cannot afford. It is a gentle collaborative venture that serves a large number of families - prescriptions range from antibiotics to eye glasses.

For many years now we have also worked with St. Elizabeth¹s Shelter because the costs of security and utility deposits often make it almost impossible for people to move out of the shelter even though they can afford monthly rent. We set aside a small fund each year to fill this gap for individuals who have been identified by the shelter director as able to keep a home, if only they could get one.

Other opportunities come from a reputable network of school counselors, individual care givers, and service organizations who are invited to contact Bread for the Journey if they see a situation where a small amount of assistance from us could make a lasting difference. This year, we helped a single mother with rent after her partner moved out and emptied their bank account, we assisted another woman struggling with massive medical bills to keep her apartment, and we made it possible for a single mom who cleans houses to keep her apartment while she recovered from gall bladder surgery and could not work.

Meeting the Need for Fiscal Sponsorship
As we work with northern New Mexico communities in need, we are now asked to provide fiscal sponsorship nearly as often as we are asked to provide seed money. For many well-intentioned groups working to improve conditions in their communities, it is not a simple grant that will help them get started. In fact, they often require no funding whatsoever from us. To become viable they need regular infusions of moral support and practical assistance, as well as a fiscal umbrella in order to receive donations from foundations, state and federal agencies and other charitable donors. Most programs we support this way operate under our umbrella during the time it takes to acquire their own nonprofit status, or find a permanent home under the wing of an appropriate service agency. In 1992 the cumulative budget of the projects we sponsored was about $300,000. This year that number is $700,000.

Furnishing the high level of attention required to help catalyze these valuable community service projects is a big task for our small organization. We have now reached our capacity for providing this incalculable support. We are participating in a dialogue with the non-profit community to address the pressing need for fiscal sponsorship. We hope that this conversation will help create additional opportunities for fledgling projects. We will go on serving our current umbrella projects with as little cost as possible, continuing to respond simply and directly to the needs of northern New Mexico as they are revealed to us through the requests we receive.

The Artisan Collective
This collaborative has provided the opportunity for artists and craftspeople in the northern towns of Truchas, Las Trampas, Ojo Sarco, Chamisal, Vadito, Placita, Cordova, Chimayo, and Picuris Pueblo to display their art work, often for the first time, meet each other and introduce people from all over to their communities and their art. We have provided initial financial support and a fiscal umbrella for the Artisan collaborative.

Corzones Unidas
For the last three years under our fiscal sponsorship Jewel Cabeza de Vaca and Corazones Unidas have provided a summer camp for children infected/affected by HIV/AIDS. This camp has offered children and their families the opportunity to interact with each other and to develop a better understanding of the effects of the disease in their lives while learning to find support for themselves. For many families this is their first-ever family vacation and the first opportunity to develop friendships with others who are facing similar struggles.

Daylight Productions
Joe Day and Manuel Machuca, operating under our fiscal sponsorship, have created a documentary film exploring the drug crisis in northern New Mexico. They are recording a human story which they tell in the words of the people of northern New Mexico through their eyes and lives. The documentary, called Rio Arriba: Tragedy and Hope, will air Tuesday, November 28th on Channel 5 at 8:00pm.

OutsideIn
Under our fiscal sponsorship, David Lescht and OutsideIn have brought art and entertainment to institutionalized or incarcerated individuals through over 250 performances during the year an average of 26 per month. Besides providing regularly scheduled performances for the frail and elderly, people with psychiatric and physical disabilities, the developmentally impaired, the homeless, those in drug rehabilitation programs and inmates of correctional facilities, they have also developed a continuing educational, creative arts programs for youth at-risk. OutsideIn has received a three year grant from the Andrea Frank Foundation and has been recognized for outstanding contributions to the community by many local organizations.

Santa Fe Public Schools Music Program
The Rebekahs, under our fiscal sponsorship, have launched an ambitious endeavor to provide a music education continuum in four schools on the south side of Santa Fe. They provide musical instruments, instrument maintenance, sheet music and choral music programs. Students who would otherwise not have access to musical training are now participating, developing skills, and performing for their proud families.

Vecinos del Rio Arriba
After more than a year of working under our umbrella, Vecinos del Rio Arriba has now obtained their own non-profit 501-C-3 status. While their original efforts were focused largely on legal battles with gravel mining operations and destruction of the landscape in close proximity to schools and homes, they have now branched out to preserve old buildings and the culture of the area as well as the environment.

Carla Gomez, a lifelong weaver, wanted to provide Las Vegas, New Mexico women an opportunity to improve their economic conditions by revitalizing the craft of weaving. Carla knew that in order to meet market demand for handwoven products, more than basic weaving skills are required. She also knew that weaving with specialty wool is one way to increase the distinctive quality of woven products. Meanwhile, an alpaca farm in Mora, New Mexico, was looking for buyers for their high quality wool, which can be spun into fine, silky yarn for weaving. Bread for the Journey gave Carla $2,300 for the program she started with Highlands University and the Department of Labor that makes it possible for women in remote communities to work at home spinning locally produced alpaca wool into yarn. Our donation purchased a dozen spinning wheels for the women. The exceptional quality of the yarn and woven items has been well received, and the program began generating revenue very quickly.

La Clinica del Pueblo in Rio Arriba requested assistance to develop a community garden cared for by a team of elders and middle school children. The garden was part of the initial development of the clinic years ago, but had lain fallow for many seasons. Elders and students wanted to have a garden again, and Bread for the Journey contributed $2,500 for the initial costs. In addition to paying for gardening materials, the money created a small stipend that helps the clinic foster entrepreneurship among the participants. Their goal was to have a self-supporting garden by the next year.