New Mexico Appleseed

“Treasurer of the board of directors reviews the 990 prior to filing.”

“Executive director's compensation is determined annually by the board of directors. The executive director determines the compensation of all other employees.”

“Available upon written request.”

“New mexico appleseed is a nonpartisan, non-profit organization focused on improving the lives of the poor and underserved through systemic change. New mexico appleseed works on the systemic level to design, test and implement practical solution to difficult issues.”

“Homelessness drafted legal memorandum outlining the legal obligations schools have to remove barriers to distance learning opportunities to students who qualify for mckinney? Vento, including internet, devices, and hard copies of packets. This memorandum drew from federal law and guidance and also included some suggestions for best practices on how schools could meet this obligation. The memorandum was sent to ped and school district superintendents around the state. It was also circulated and shared nationally. Appleseed helped draft and develop best practices for mckinney vento liaisons in school districts during the pandemic. This included new strategies for outreach and identification and meeting the needs of mckinney vento students. We also helped draft easy to use documents liaisons could use to document the virtual weekly check ins with mckinney vento students, identify the basic needs of mv students, and enroll newly homeless students in mv. We also helped prepare a webinar and powerpoint with 60+ attendees around the state to walk through the obligations and provide support to mv staff. The materials and list of best practices were also circulated nationally by nche assisted mv liaison with unaccompanied minor and eligibility for snap issue. Abq and las cruces pilot project. Designed and partnered with aps and lcps to develop an intervention for 8th and 9th grade youth at risk of dropping out. Intervention will consist of 4 months at aps with a 500 a month financial transfer to families if students meet certain participation criteria in the intervention which will include a book club, meetings with counselors, and attendance at school. Lcps is 3 months with relationship building exercises, high school orientation, etc. Families will also receive a 500 a month financial transfer if certain expectations around participation are met. Draft email memorandum to secretary of ped outlining concerns about continued noncompliance with mckinney vento and provide concrete recommendations on how state and school districts can come into compliance reviewed continuous learning plans submitted by leas, found mkv section and guidance provided by ped to be lacking in substance. Brought matter to the attention of state agency officials; currently providing technical assistance to ped to ensure equity for students experiencing homelessness as reentry plans are being developed. Appleseed compiled resources gathered by state coordinator to create a guidance document that was posted on ped's website and shared nationally followed up with ped for process on continuous learning plans for leas, drafted fall reentry guidance and supporting materials for leas in partnership with state homelessness coordinator and ped. Drafted and supported state coordinator for homeless children and youth's fall guidance webinar for homeless liasions. Created survey to uncover concerns and needs that were addressed in webinar. Helped create the powerpoint used in webinar and made additional resource to help address some concerns expressed in survey. Launched mini?grant project for hl in rural communities or those who did not receive a subgrant from ped to help with outreach and identification. In partnership with the lanlf, launched two more basic needs stipend pilots. One in west las vegas public schools (20 participants) and cuba independent school district (23 participants). Target population is mkv enrolled in high school. Interviewed parents and students from aps and lcps pilot program”

“Hunger eliminated the copay for reduced price lunches in nm during the 2020 legislative session. Advocated for revision to batb regulation that required all universal feeding schools to serve breakfast after the bell. Statewide advocate for "one meal a day" group on school meals during the covid 19 pandemic. Assisted albuquerque schools in creating 89 meal sites serving 12,000 to 15,000 meals per day. Assisted in the establishment of the one albuquerque kids cabinet coordination & prevention for kids and families. Served as head chair of the legislative strategy team on food security. Helped establish 4 new after school meal programs for new mexico state university science technology engineering and math program in hatch and gadsden nm. Partnered with the public education department and the governors office to get 100% statewide compliance for all mandated school breakfast programs, resulting in 20 schools being in compliance, providing an estimated 8,000 kids access to breakfast in the classroom. After our statewide hunger survey was sent out to all food service directors,appleseed partnered with the new mexico foundation as they provided grants. Organized and led statewide meetings to answer school nutrition directors and after school programs questions on cacfp and fall meals. Frac, ped, and cyfd were made available to answer questions. Advocated for hsd to follow up on thousands of families that did not receive card in the mail and almost 50,000 families who did not activate their card, suggesting the number who did not receive it is actually much higher. Presented on panel at statewide nm pta conference on pebt, hunger issues, and challenges with distant learning. Appleseed is holding constant contact with school districts to keep them updated on national wavers. This includes updates (flyers) around pebt and school meal applications. Appleseed is warning school districts, ped, and families about the importance of meal application for next year. Through appleseed's relentless advocacy, hsd and ped extended pebt benefits to approx. 243,000 children for august and september. This action allows an additional 45 million to feed vulnerable children throughout the state. Led statewide meeting to help school districts leverage cacfp and sso funding to serve afterschool and weekend meals. Presented to nmpta leadership on school meals and pebt. Session was recorded shared statewide. Updated appleseed's materials on school meals and pebt for nmpta leaders to share with local ptas. Designed "1,2,3 eyes on me" initiative this intervention targets school?age children across new mexico who may not be receiving the services and support they need to live, learn, and thrive during the shutdown from covid-19. We are focused on two different audiences, children and their guardians. The intervention includes: access to healthcare and mental health support food physical activities academic support joy and connection with schools closed indefinitely, this intervention envisions a spectrum of virtual and in person services and opportunities for children that will be covid safe and fulfill these unmet needs. While new mexico appleseed created the vision, it is supported by a massive collaborative effort across the state with partners ranging from new mexico united to ems clinics to nmsu and unm to abc community schools and western sky community care, and many others. It is this unique time where so many people are interested in helping, but do not have a vehicle to do so.”

“Other programs: despite the numerous challenges experienced in 2020, new mexico appleseed continued to make significant strides in implementing the family success lab. Through our continued advocacy and relationship with state agencies and legislators, we anticipate 200,000 will be allocated in the state budget in fiscal year 2022 to fund at least one full-time position at the family health bureau at the new mexico department of health (doh). We have a strong relationship with staff at doh who continue to devote more resources to this initiative, which has support because of its potential to better understand family outcomes and address the root causes of poor outcomes. Other agencies have also begun to recognize the value of this endeavor, including the new mexico public education department (ped) and early childhood education and care department (ececd), and become agency leaders on moving this idea forward. The current work includes determining the initial research questions to show proof of concept, identifying existing state resources that can be leveraged for the family success lab, and developing the governance structure to share data, so staff resources are not continually devoted to re-negotiating memoranda of understanding (mous) for each data sharing effort. Appleseed is participating in the process by sharing our extensive knowledge of integrated data systems and convening key stakeholders to help bring all partners along in the process. We believe that having a full-time staff person at the state dedicated to the work of the family success lab will be invaluable.”

“Professional services 217,839 0 1,336”