Below you will find detailed descriptions of all of the service sites located in this state. Each
description includes details about the community where the service site is based,the overall work and
mission of the organization, and what an incoming servicemember can expect to do on a day-to-day
basis at this site. We hope this documentwill help you to best determine where you are most
interested in serving!
Please note that all service sites and site descriptions are subject to change. Final details will be
confirmed during the position offer process.
New Mexico Service Sites
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La Plazita Institute
Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health - Kewa Pueblo
La Semilla Food Center
The Volunteer Center of Grant County
Albuquerque Public Schools Wellness Dept - APS School Gardens
SouthWest Organizing Project
Community Outreach and Patient Empowerment (COPE)
La Plazita Institute
City/Town: Albuquerque, New Mexico
La Plazita Institute, Inc. is a nonprofit,
grassroots organization in Albuquerque, NM.
La Plazita engages New Mexico's youth,
elders, and communities in a comprehensive,
holistic, and cultural approach. Designed
around the philosophy of "La Cultura Cura," or
culture heals, La Plazita's programs engage
New Mexico's youth, elders, and communities
to draw from their own roots and histories and
express core traditional values of respect,
honor, love, and family. La Plazita has a full
time FoodCorps service member who
coordinates various La Plazita Garden
programs and educational activities, such as
partnering with Agri-Cultura Network to
distribute La Cosecha (fresh produce boxes for
local families), providing nutrition education
classes to home child care providers and
patients with diabetes (primarily Spanish
speaking women and mothers), as well as
providing nutrition and garden education
programming at various local schools. Through
FoodCorps, we have also developed a
mentorship program with the University of New
Mexico's College Assistance Migrant Program
(CAMP) and Atrisco Heritage Academy High
School.
The South Valley is an urban community just
south of Albuquerque. The population is
around 90,000 and consists of working class
families. The residents enjoy walking and
sports, and there are diverse recreational
activities such as museums, fishing, and
gardening. The South Valley is a place for
creative people who are looking for the space
to create opportunities for the larger
community.
Our service member supports the Juvenile
Detention Center Education Unit by holding
one in-class lesson per week as well as one
after-school program per week in the kitchen
and/or garden. These classes are used to
increase food justice awareness, healthy
lifestyle choices, and self-empowerment
through gardening and cooking. Another goal
of these cooking activities is to work toward
incorporating local produce into the consistent
menu within the cafeteria at the Youth
Detention Center. At Atrisco Heritage Academy
High School, our service member will
collaborate with two teaches in the Special
Education Department to teach gardening,
cooking, and food system awareness. These
lessons also include supporting a small school
garden. Our service member will also work with
the student council to plan events and activities
to reach a greater audience within the school.
Preferred Skills, Interest and Knowledge
We would like our service member to be
interested in and knowledgeable about the
intersection of food education, nutrition, health,
culture, community restoration, intervention,
prevention, diversion, and healing.
Students served: Middle School, High School
Required languages: Helpful languages: Spanish & Local Native
Languages
Community type: Urban
Number of staff at service site: 16
Access to a car: Required
Johns Hopkins Center for
American Indian Health - Kewa
Pueblo
City/Town: Albuquerque, New Mexico
The Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian
Health is an independent center within the
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public
Health. Our service site is located in
Albuquerque and Santo Domingo Pueblo, New
Mexico. Our site serves the Pueblo of Santo
Domingo and our programs are at the local
elementary and middle schools.
Santo Domingo Pueblo is located 25 miles
south of Santa Fe, NM. The pueblo is famous
for its arts and crafts of silver and turquoise
jewelry-making and pottery which has earned
recognition throughout the world. Fifth in size of
the 19 New Mexico pueblos, it is believed to be
the most conservative in its traditions and
customs. According to the 2010 Census,
approximately 2,500 people live in the Pueblo
and speak the Keres language. The community
is too small to offer a grocery store and other
similar amenities. However, these can be
accessed in nearby Albuquerque (40 miles)
and Santa Fe (25 miles). Nearby Albuquerque
is host to fellow FoodCorps service members.
Our service site works within the Bernalillo
Public School District and has an office at the
Santo Domingo Elementary and Middle School,
where our service member will serve. Our team
will work alongside our service member to
support efforts to create a healthier school
environment at Santo Domingo School as well
as in the overall school district. Goals for the
2016-2017 school year are to expand school
gardens throughout the school district to three
other schools, Cochiti Elementary, Algodones
Elementary, and Bernalillo Elementary, with
support from the school leadership and our
team.
Preferred Skills, Interest and Knowledge
Strong speaking and networking skills
Team player
Strong leadership skills
Organized, efficient and detail-oriented
Independent learner and worker
Flexible and adaptable
Ability to effectively multi-task
Self motivated and driven
Superb professional judgment and discretion
Students served: Elementary, Middle School
Required languages: Helpful languages: Keres
Community type: Rural
Number of staff at service site: Information
not provided
Access to a car: Helpful
La Semilla Food Center
City/Town: Anthony, New Mexico
La Semilla Food Center's mission is to build a
healthy, self-reliant, fair, and sustainable food
system in the Paso del Norte region of
southern New Mexico and El Paso, Texas. We
work with children, youth, and families to build
awareness around food issues, provide
informed analysis, and create alternatives for
healthier environments and communities. Two
FoodCorps service members will be joining our
team of fifteen dedicated food system
advocates who share a love of good food food that is grown fairly, sustainably, that is
affordable, and accessible.
Our two FoodCorps service members will serve
in Anthony, NM and Las Cruces, NM. Anthony
is a rural area situated in the Chihuahuan
Desert between two major metropolitan areas
(El Paso, Texas and Las Cruces, NM). Our
service members will live within 10-30 minutes
of a variety of restaurants, museums, libraries,
shopping centers, grocery stores, outdoor
markets, and more. Hiking, camping, and
outdoor activities are also abundant in the
surrounding mountain ranges.
Our two service members will support schools
in their second year of La Semilla's three-year
Edible Education program, including La Union
Elementary, North Valley Elementary, Vado
Elementary, East Picacho Elementary, and
Sunrise Elementary. Our service members will
continue to build each school's capacity to
implement edible education activities by
working closely with teachers and school
administration to integrate the school garden
and healthy eating into the school culture. Our
service members will work to build teachers'
confidence in the garden, walking them through
each step of the seed to table cycle from
planting with students to harvesting and
preparing healthy recipes in the classroom. Our
service members will train teachers to use
existing garden infrastructure and help install
season extension, compost systems, and
edible, perennial, pollinator, and herb gardens.
Finally, our service members will work closely
with school administration to design a healthy
school action plan to integrate edible education
and foster a healthy school environment.
Preferred Skills, Interest and Knowledge
Basic gardening and cooking skills, basic
construction skills, comfort public speaking and
teaching, excellent written and verbal
communication skills all strengthen an
applicant seeking to serve with FoodCorps at
La Semilla Food Center.
Students served: Elementary, Middle School,
High School
Required languages: Helpful languages: Spanish
Community type: Rural
Number of staff at service site: 12
Access to a car: Required
The Volunteer Center of Grant
County
City/Town: Silver City, New Mexico
The Volunteer Center uses a holistic strategy
to end hunger in Grant County that includes
emergency and supplemental food distribution,
education, economic development, and food
growing -- particularly through home, school,
and community gardens. Education about
social justice issues is always a component of
our programming as this knowledge is critical
to our understanding of why our work is
necessary. At The Volunteer Center, our
FoodCorps service member focuses on school
gardens at our local elementary schools
including 6th Street Elementary and Jose
Barrios Elementary.
Silver City is a small town located in rugged
and beautiful Grant County, New Mexico. Grant
County is a limited resource community in an
area characterized by its rural nature, diverse
population, and the history of ranching,
farming, and mining industries in the region.
There is an abundance of access to National
Forests and designated wilderness area, as
well as a downtown scene that includes art
galleries, live music, local food and spirits,
coffee shops, a natural food co-op, and a
variety of other small businesses.
6th Street Elementary School is in its third year
of outdoor classroom programming in Veggie
Rainbowland (name chosen by students). Jose
Barrios Elementary School is in its first year of
garden programming. The 2016-17 service
year will be focused on phasing out
FoodCorps' involvement at 6th Street School
so that teachers, staff, students, and
community are able to maintain the garden
successfully. The work at Jose Barrios will
focus on deepening programming and
assisting staff and teachers in using the garden
as a learning tool. In addition, our service
members will reach out to at least one new
elementary or middle school and work to install
and begin another garden program.
Preferred Skills, Interest and Knowledge
Teaching and gardening skills are incredible
tools for our service site! Service members will
be regularly engaged with students in the
garden, will care for the gardens, and will need
to be able to build community around each
school's garden! It is important that our service
member be an active and self-directed member
of the team who can thrive independently as
well as on a team.
Students served: Elementary, High School
Required languages: Helpful languages: Spanish
Community type: Rural
Number of staff at service site: 4
Access to a car: Helpful
Albuquerque Public Schools
Wellness Dept - APS School
Gardens
City/Town: Albuquerque, New Mexico
Albuquerque Public Schools has an "APS
Schools Gardens Team" that is working
towards starting gardens at schools throughout
the district, teaching students how to start and
maintain gardens in Albuquerque. A garden is
more than just planting seeds and growing
food. According to the National Gardening
Association, across the U.S. school gardens
are being used, "as a vehicle for encouraging
children to make good food choices,
augmenting classroom studies with experiential
learning, building a love of nature, stimulating
social interaction, facilitating cultural exchange,
and more." Gardens are also the ideal outdoor
classroom. As an outdoor classroom they allow
a place to implement effective teaching
strategies such as hands-on and experiential
learning. They also provide a place to teach
and learn a wide range of academic subjects
including literacy, math, botany, biology,
environmental science, creative writing, history,
and, of course, health and nutrition. In addition
to academic subjects, gardens are an ideal
place to teach important social and life skills
including cooperation, teamwork, sharing,
caring for something other than one's self,
nurturing, goal setting, safety, and enjoying
success with community.
Albuquerque has a lot to offer a young person.
While it is the largest city in the state, it is often
described as "a big little town" due to the ease
of connecting with and friendliness of others.
There is a wide variety of living spaces in
Albuquerque due to it being a university town
(the University of New Mexico), and there are
MANY options for food, entertainment, and
activities. The weather is generally mild and
DRY, with most days giving us sun and the
nights, cooler temperatures - totally conducive
to lots of outdoor activities (including
GARDENING). There are other FoodCorps
service members living and working in the
area, and FoodCorps provides many
opportunities for connecting with them here
and all over New Mexico.
Wilson Middle School is the current assignment
for an in-depth school site experience for
middle level grades (6-8). The school has a
large garden with a variety of opportunities native plants, vegetables, grape vines, trees,
shrubs, hoop gardening, etc. The main goals
are to 1) create and collect curriculum and
instruction supports for in-classroom
applications and to 2) plan for and implement
sustainability practices while increasing the
vibrancy of the garden. The curriculum and
instruction aspects of service along with
successful garden practices will add to the
districtwide information and supports that all
Growing Gardens Team members will have
access to and support for. At the district level,
our service member has considerable
opportunities to network with other
departments and organizations in the area to
leverage resources and efforts, particularly the
district's Food & Nutrition Services Department
and local farmers markets and healthy eating
initiatives.
Preferred Skills, Interest and Knowledge
Solidly good communication skills--written and
oral; personal skills in easily meeting a wide
variety of people and building relationships with
individuals and organizations; personal
organizational skills in scheduling and
prioritizing tasks.
Students served: Elementary, Middle School,
High School
Required languages: Helpful languages: Spanish
Community type: Urban
Number of staff at service site: Information
not provided
Access to a car: Helpful
SouthWest Organizing Project
City/Town: Albuquerque, New Mexico
The SouthWest Organizing Project was
founded in 1980 by young activists of color to
empower our communities in the SouthWest to
realize racial and gender equality and social
and economic justice. We seek to redefine
power relationships by bringing together the
collective action, talents, and resources of the
people within our communities. We work
primarily in low-income communities of color to
gain community control of our land and
resources Our work takes various forms: direct
grassroots organizing campaigns to make
social or political change, education and skill
building to develop leadership within our
communities, and mass-based civic
engagement strategies to build and
demonstrate the collective power we have
through voting. We've dug in, literally, on how
to promote local food systems and connect
them to low-income communities. We are
working with five area schools to integrate onsite gardens into curriculum. These efforts
provide an opportunity for us to educate
communities, parents and children about the
connection between health and their
environments, and to grow the local agriculture
movement in a way that promotes a
sustainable, eco-friendly food systems
approach. A particular policy goal of this
campaign is to leverage state resources for
increased incorporation of New Mexico grown
produce in school lunches. The FoodCorp
service member will focus directly on further
developing our work within the schools.
Creating curriculum and leadership
development opportunities for parents,
students and teachers while also helping to
create internal systems to sustain the school
gardens.
Albuquerque is the most populous city in the
U.S. state of New Mexico. It is the county seat
of Bernalillo County, and it is situated in the
central part of the state, straddling the Rio
Grande. The city population was 555,417 as of
the July 1, 2012 population estimate from the
United States Census Bureau, and ranks as
the 32nd-largest city in the U.S. The
Albuquerque MSA has a population of 902,797
according to the United States Census
Bureau's most recently available estimate for
July 1, 2013. Albuquerque is rich in tradition
and culturally diverse. You will have access to
a wide range of local food and art. There is
also a vibrant outdoor life with easy access to
the bosque or mountains for a hike or bike ride.
Any other outdoor activity from fishing to skiing
and snowboarding are very close by.
You will have the opportunity to strength the
foundation built by other SWOP organizers at
Albuquerque Public Schools. This experience
will allow you to connect with diverse students
from Elementary to High School. You will
support already established gardens by aiding
in developing systems and curriculum to
ensure the success of the garden and further
development of the community. You will
partner with teachers to connect their in class
curriculum to the garden to better integrate it
into the school as a whole. For parent, student
and teachers that show higher levels of
interests you will have to opportunity to connect
them to the broader local food justice
movement through the work of SWOP. You will
report to the SWOP Office on Monday and
Tuesday mornings for full staff check ins and
weekly meetings. The rest of the week you will
be teaming with teachers, students, and
parents at Edward Gonzales Elementary, West
Mesa High School, Van Buren Middle School,
Kirkland Elementary and potentially 1-2 more
schools that will be identified over the summer.
Your efforts at these schools will focus on
creating systems to maintain the school
gardens in sustainable way for the school. You
will also provide educational opportunities for
the teachers, parents and students to learn
about food systems, health, food access and
the traditional agricultural history of New
Mexico. Knowledge- A FoodCorps service
member will be expected to create and teach
lessons throughout their term of service that
are geared towards nutrition education and our
Farm to School program. The FoodCorps
service member will be expected to support the
procurement aspect of our Farm to School
program by teaching students about where
their food comes from. The service member will
visit local farms, teach students about the
farms/farmers, and help bridge the gap
between the farm and the cafeteria.
Engagement- The FoodCorps service member
will be expected to assist with the creation of
multi-media outreach to engage our district
community in our farm to school efforts. Day to
day this means creating short videos on iMovie
that highlight farms that we work with and
helping to manage our social media outlets
(Facebook, twitter, website, etc.) Access The
FoodCorps service member will be expected to
assist with our growing Garden to Caf program
that allows school garden produce to be served
in our cafeterias. This past year we doubled the
amount of schools that participate in this
program. This next year we want even more
schools to join the program.
Students served: Information not provided
Required languages: Helpful languages: Community type: Information not provided
Number of staff at service site: Information
not provided
Access to a car: Information not provided
Community Outreach and Patient
Empowerment (COPE)
City/Town: Gallup, New Mexico
COPE's vision is to eliminate health disparities
and improve the wellbeing of American Indians
and Alaska Natives. COPE's mission is to
promote healthy, prosperous, & empowered
Native communities. To achieve these aims,
COPE focuses on three collaborative
approaches: Robust, community-based
accompaniment; local capacity and systemlevel partnerships; and eliminating food
insecurity. COPE is comprised of a partnership
between the Navajo Nation Community Health
Representative Program, Indian Health Service
(IHS), Brigham and Women?s Hospital, and
Partners In Health, COPE provides training and
resources to teams of community health
workers, known as Community Health
Representatives (CHRs). Their goal is to
improve the overall health of high-risk patients
with poorly controlled chronic diseases and
those at risk of developing chronic diseases
living within Navajo Nation. COPE also has a
heavy focus on Food Security. The Food
Access program and their partners work to
build awareness, promote food sovereignty and
support local food efforts to empower healthy
and prosperous Navajo communities.
Gallup is a small city with a diverse population
of approximately 20,000. Surrounded by
stunning red rock formations in Northwest New
Mexico,there are ample opportunities to enjoy
the spectacular landscape by hiking, mountain
biking, rock climbing, hunting, and horseback
riding. Located on historic Route 66, Gallup is
home to a dynamic arts scene, which you can
enjoy at the monthly Arts Crawl in the vibrant
downtown area. When you're not chowing
down on famous New Mexican green chile at
local restaurants, you'll be able to purchase
groceries at several supermarkets or the local
co-op. While you should be able to buy
anything you need in Gallup and catch the
latest films in one of the movie theaters, you
might occasionally make the 2 hour drive to
Albuquerque to spend time with other
FoodCorps members.
The USDA classifies the Navajo Nation as a
food desert, with limited access to healthy
foods. Lack of access to healthy foods
contributes to extremely high rates of obesity,
Type 2 diabetes, and other diet-related
diseases. Our 2012 community-based needs
assessment identified the need to pass on
traditional food knowledge and also the need to
bring healthy foods into remote rural
communities. Recognizing the inherent wisdom
within tribal communities, COPE seeks to
overcome food insecurity in the Navajo Nation
by providing culturally-sensitive education
about healthy lifestyles and introducing new
healthy foods to school-aged children and their
families through innovative food distribution
schemes. COPE also recently began a
Traditional Gardens Project to start a
community garden to engage school-age
children and elders in sharing intergenerational
teaching on Navajo food traditions. Through
strong regional partnerships with tribal
communities, our long-term goal is to scale-up
tribally-led initiatives across Navajo Nation and
other rural reservations to eliminate food
deserts in these communities. We eagerly seek
to sponsor a FoodCorps Service Member to
help us with this work. As the FoodCorps
service member partnering with COPE, you will
join our Healthy Foods Project Team. You will
have the opportunity to learn about school
gardens by working closely with a FoodCorps
alum who currently teaches and oversees a
school garden at an elementary school in
Gallup. You will apply what you learn by
helping to build a new garden at another school
in a Navajo community. In addition to delivering
nutrition and gardening lessons to students,
you will also help to plan workshops and
events to build excitement about the gardens in
the broader community. In addition, you will
partner with Navajo health educators to deliver
a childhood obesity prevention curriculum
developed by COPE to children in kindergarten
through third grade. Finally, you will collaborate
with schools and regional stakeholders to
troubleshoot distribution issues to increase
local, fresh foods available in school lunches
and to others in the community. You will also
be instrumental in helping to guide COPE's
strategy to increase access to healthy foods.
You will start each day at the COPE Office in
Gallup, NM. On most days, you will spend time
in schools in Navajo communities, supporting
community gardens and delivering culturallyrelevant nutrition education.
Preferred Skills, Interest and Knowledge
Understanding or knowledge of Navajo culture
and traditions.
Students served: Pre-School, Elementary
Required languages: Helpful languages: Navajo
Community type: Rural
Number of staff at service site: Information
not provided
Access to a car: Required