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HELP-NM plays a vital role for families in Luna County

Deming Headlight - 6/24/2021

DEMING – HELP-NM weathered the COVID-19 pandemic and continued to provide the essential services that are vital to working mothers and fathers in the community. The early childhood education and resource centers dot Luna County for parents of children six weeks to five years of age. “We begin with expected mothers and take children up to Head Start and New Mexico Pre-K,” said Tricia Gutierrez, manager of the Family Resource Center at 500 East Oak Street.

FRC is one of seven HELP-NM centers in Luna County providing early childhood education, resources for growing families and day care for infants and toddlers.

The pandemic changed the way education and day care was delivered by HELP-NM. The center provided three options based on the pandemic’s course and actions taken by the New Mexico Department of Health and data provided by the Center for Disease Control. HELP-NM centers provided home-based, virtual-based and center-based services at one time or another and did not skip a beat in the process.

FRC held an enrollment day a week ago on Friday and invited parents to pre-register their children for classes and day care. “We ended up getting seven applications,” Gutierrez stated. “That’s a good start.”

Gutierrez has been with HELP-NM for the past six years and at the FRC during that time. She previously taught privately for 19 years. The FRC is normally at full capacity with 46 children enrolled and they range from six weeks to five years of age. Nine teachers are employed at FRC and they are put into four classrooms; infants, toddlers, Head Start and NM Pre-K.

“All of our classrooms play a vital role in keeping families moving forward,” Gutierrez told the Headlight. “I hear how parents say they need us, they can’t afford to pay for childcare out of pocket, our teachers are amazing, and they thank us for what we have done for their children.”

The center provides a detailed calendar that includes two scheduled home visits per year, three home-cooked meals daily, family fun days and parent meetings are held once a month, parent education meetings are held once a month and members of the community and civic leaders are invited to the center once a month for a show-n-tell.

Home Education Livelihood Program (HELP-NM) has served communities for over 50 years and was founded by the New Mexico Council of Churches, and now served by the New Mexico Conference of Churches and Church Women United.

The three branches of HELP-NM empowerment include: providing a foundation for economic growth per families, learning and educational opportunities per families and finance and administrative powers that allow the HELP-NM programs to grow.

“HELP-NM in Deming will soon have another center,” Gutierrez said. The Milo Center (former Jardin de los Ninos) at 600 E. Fourth Street on Deming’s north side, will soon become a Head Start program.

HELP-NM has 25 offices across the state and employs over 200, with the groundwork of changing lives and improving the communities that the agency serves. Luna County has the most centers in the state.

NM Pre-K and Head Start keep the FRC faculty and cooks busy year-round. Gutierrez said she did not expect enrollment to drop during the pandemic due to the virtual learning and virtual home visits the center provided. “Parents and children are excited about returning to the center and we are excited to have them back.”

Parents can register children now through August at the Family Resource Center, or any one of the six HELP-NM centers in Deming and Columbus. For more information about the Family Resource Center or HELP-NM, contact Tricia Gutierrez at 575-544-8312.

Bill Armendariz can be reached at 575-546-2611 (leave a message) or biarmendariz@demingheadlight.com.

HELP-NM in Luna County

Here are the seven locations, contacts and services:

Deming Area Office, 310 E. Olive St. Call 546-7414

• Rainbow Head Start, 1800 S. Copper St. Call 544-3821

Columbus, 500 Taft St. Call 575-531-2599

Family Resource Center, 500 E. Oak St. Call 544-8312

Deming, 306 S. Copper St. Call 546-4229

• McPherson, 720 S. Nickel St. Call 544-2992

• TLC-Deming, 2150 E. Pine St. Call 546-9490.

Visit helpnm.com, the school readiness program for children and families includes:

• Education

• Screenings and follow-up for health, development and behavior

• Health and safety

• Social and emotional health

• Nutrition

• Family goal setting

• Family engagement/advocacy and decision-making

• Social services

• Transition services

• Services for children with disabilities.

Comprehensive services are delivered in a learning environment that is individualized to support children’s growth in the essential domains of the New Mexico Early Learning Guidelines.

This article originally appeared on Deming Headlight: HELP-NM plays a vital role for families in Luna County

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