Con Alma Health Foundation’s statewide grants program plays a crucial role in tackling health inequities across New Mexico, with a focus on reaching rural and underserved communities. These grants empower local organizations to create meaningful solutions that improve access to care and overall well-being. “At Con Alma, we are proud to support community-driven initiatives that address the unique challenges of rural healthcare,” said Executive Director Linda Candelaria. “Investing in these efforts strengthens the foundation of health equity across our state.”
One example of this impact can be seen in Northern New Mexico’s Mora County, where Steve Smaby of the Collins Lake Autism Center shared how the funding will make a difference: “This support will help us bring much-needed non-primary care services, like physical therapy and behavioral health, to our rural community, where these services are nearly nonexistent. By recruiting and subsidizing part-time providers, we can make care more accessible and reduce the travel barriers that often prevent people from seeking help.” This initiative exemplifies how Con Alma’s commitment to equity is creating lasting, positive change for New Mexicans.
2024 Statewide Grant Recipients are:
100% Taos County ($30,000): Supporting a Coordinator to develop the 100% Family Center in Taos, Questa, and Peñasco, while expanding the initiative to include a comprehensive medical and dental team. This capacity building effort provides programmatic support to Action Teams focused on reducing Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and improving community health throughout Taos County, including broad community outreach.
Albuquerque Sign Language Academy ($25,000): Supporting a capacity-building initiative to address the unique needs of Albuquerque Sign Language Academy students and their families, empowering students to thrive and advocate for themselves in a world that can be challenging for individuals with disabilities.
American Lung Association of New Mexico ($20,000): To help build the capacity of the American Lung Association’s Free Lung Screening initiative in New Mexico, expanding lung health awareness and promoting well-being across the state.
Brighter Bites ($15,000): Enhancing capacity building in health promotion programs that offer nutrition education, produce distributions, and engaging food experiences in partnership with Las Cruces Community Schools in Doña Ana County.
Cancer Services of New Mexico ($15,000): To support the legal, insurance, and paperwork assistance for cancer patients program in building its capacity to provide statewide support for navigating the financial challenges and complexities associated with a cancer diagnosis.
Cavern City Child Advocacy Center ($30,000): In support of the Lethality Assessment Program (LAP), which is working to build its capacity to improve domestic violence victim response and services across Eddy County. Integrating LAP plays a vital role in homicide prevention efforts by enhancing police training, coordinating community response, improving emergency services, and increasing victims’ awareness of protective strategies.
Chaves County Casa Program ($30,000): To help build the capacity of the Healthy Habits program to provide daily meals with cooking instruction, supporting the short and long-term health of abused and neglected youth in Chaves County.
Chronic Disease Prevention Council ($30,000): To help build the capacity of the New Mexico Peer Support Network to increase the number of Certified Peer Support Workers across the state and improve behavioral health services.
Collins Lake Autism Center ($30,000): To support the Collins Lake Autism Center’s Integrated Therapy Center in strengthening its capacity to deliver mental health services to Supported Living residents and others in the Mora County area, addressing the gap in accessible services for individuals in rural communities.
Esperanza Shelter, Inc. ($30,000): To provide emergency shelter support for domestic violence victims, offering counseling and housing to women and families in Santa Fe and surrounding areas. This capacity building assistance will help Esperanza Shelter transition from pandemic related restrictions to a communal model, while expanding its ability to meet the growing demand, as the shelter has been operating at full capacity since reopening earlier this year.
The Family YMCA ($20,000): Supporting the Española YMCA Teen Center in building capacity to expand its daily prevention and intervention activities, addressing the evolving needs of local youth while fostering creativity, resilience, and essential life skills.
Food Bank of Eastern New Mexico ($30,000): Capacity building for three New Mexico’s Regional Food Banks in San Juan, Sandoval, Roosevelt, Rio Arriba, Quay, McKinley, Guadalupe, DeBaca, Curry, and Cibola Counties to engage in creating a strategic plan.
Food Depot ($30,000): Supporting upstream solutions to chronic food insecurity in Northeastern New Mexico by building capacity for regional coalitions of community members to advocate for systemic changes in food equity, driving sustainable, long-term improvements in public health.
Fundamental Needs Inc ($30,000): Supporting Shiprock area’s Oasis Project to build capacity by training and hiring local high school students through an after-school work program to assist with off-grid water system installations. These systems include water tanks, pumps, heaters, sinks for water access, and greywater gardens to leverage every drop of liquid.
Healthy Native Communities Partnership, Inc. ($30,000): To build rural community capacity in sharing Navajo cultural and traditional teachings in the Shiprock Service area or Northern Navajo Agency. This project will establish social and cultural activities that promote health and well-being, and celebrate traditional wisdom, cultivating a healthy mind, body, and spirit.
Jardin de los Niños ($30,000): Building capacity to enhance infant mental health in the Las Cruces and Hatch Valley communities through a holistic, preventive, and trauma-informed framework. This approach addresses challenges such as generational poverty, homelessness, immigration stressors, and trauma, promoting the well-being of children and families with responsive support.
La Plaza De Encuentro Gathering Place ($30,000): Empowering frontline workers in Albuquerque to drive efforts in advancing health equity for aging Spanish-speaking Hispanics and immigrants, focusing on improving access to culturally relevant services, promoting wellness, and influencing health policy.
Lions Club of Taos Inc ($15,000): Supporting the Lions Community Health and Technical Education program, which prepares high school students in the UNM-Taos Health Science pathway for local workforce development in healthcare. This capacity-building effort provides financial support to reduce mandatory expenses, including entry and certification tests, travel for clinical training, and continuing education requirements, fostering a culturally and linguistically diverse workforce.
Mandys Special Farm ($30,000): Capacity building for a therapeutic adaptive horseback riding program in Albuquerque’s South Valley, offering children with intellectual and developmental disabilities the opportunity to experience the joy of horseback riding. This program provides physical, emotional, social, and cognitive benefits with the goal of empowering children to thrive and grow.
National Latino Behavioral Health Association ($30,000): Building the capacity of a coalition of stakeholders to address chronic homeless encampments in the Española Valley. This effort will identify gaps, needs, and strategies to create a multijurisdictional approach to addressing these challenges.
New Mexico Environmental Law Center ($20,000): Building community capacity to address the toxic legacy of uranium by providing free legal services, policy advocacy, and public education to frontline communities in Northwestern New Mexico.
New Mexico Immigrant Law Center ($30,000): Building workforce development capacity for immigrant youth in healthcare through the Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) Act. This includes training judges in rural areas to ensure consistent application of the Act and advocating in court to prevent the denial of eligibility for individuals aged 18-21.
New Mexico Ramp Project ($30,000): Building capacity for ramp construction in selected rural/frontier and tribal communities in San Juan, McKinley, and Cibola counties.
New Mexico State University College of Health and Social Services ($30,000): Supporting a peer mentorship and career development initiative that builds capacity for enhanced academic and career support for students identifying as racial or ethnic minorities. This initiative aims to improve graduation rates, diversify the state’s health workforce to better reflect the communities served, and address systemic gaps in care.
New Mexico Voices for Children ($30,000): Supporting innovative collaboration with partners in rural communities to build capacity among families advocating for policies that advance child well-being and public health in light of environmental health concerns.
Northern New Mexico College ($30,000): Supporting a Collaborative Food Security Initiative to enhance Sostenga Farm’s capacity to grow fresh produce, provide healthy meals at the campus Café and Pantry, and offer free community cooking classes featuring traditional Hispanic and Native American recipes. All produce and meals are provided at no cost to students and their families.
Solace Crisis Treatment Center ($30,000): Supporting workforce development for the Solace clinical team to build capacity and expand access to services for Hispanic-Latinx clients. This effort aims to reduce waitlists for culturally specific programs addressing the unique experiences of migrants and subsequent generations of Hispanic-Latinx individuals in Northern New Mexico.
St. Luke’s Health Care Clinic dba Amador Health Center ($25,000): Supporting health equity for dairy workers in Doña Ana County through expanded outreach, a mobile healthcare van, health promotion, and case management by Community Health Workers. This capacity building effort enhances access to care by providing information, referrals, and education, benefiting both migrant workers and dairy owners.
Valencia Shelter for Victims of Domestic Violence ($30,000): Building capacity to increase access and equity, decrease service barriers and disparities, and cease systemic racism and generational cycles of abuse for historically marginalized community members affected by domestic violence, sexual assault, and child abuse in underserved rural and tribal areas, including Valencia, Socorro, Torrance, Catron Counties, and Laguna and Isleta Pueblos.
Zuni Youth Enrichment Project ($25,000): Supporting cross-sector collaboration for holistic wellness among Zuni community members by building the capacity of working groups to leverage shared expertise and resources. These efforts focus on promoting well-being while addressing chronic health disparities and inequities.
Share on:
