PNM Foundation awards $50,000 in grants to two San Juan County nonprofit organizations
FARMINGTON — Young people throughout San Juan County will be the ultimate beneficiaries of a pair of grants totaling $50,000 that have been awarded by the Public Service Co. of New Mexico’s Resources Foundation to a pair of local nonprofit organizations.
Foundation officials announced in a May 30 news release that Childhaven Inc. of Farmington and First Tee – Four Corners of Kirtland had been among those awarded the grants, which went to 44 nonprofit groups around the state for a total of $700,000. Childhaven received a $10,000 grant, while First Tee – Four Corners earned a $40,000 grant.
Both organizations were previous recipients of grant funding from the PNM Foundation. But Tina Pacheco-White, the executive director of First Tee, said this award was much larger than the previous grant.
“This is certainly a transformational gift for us,” she said. “We are very anxious to further our outreach programs on the (Navajo) reservation.”
Pacheco-White said the grant money would be used to further her organization’s mission of integrating the game of golf with a life skills curriculum to build strength of character. She said the programs First Tee offers are well suited to address the four pillars that are part of the PNM Resources Foundation’s grant program — education, inclusion, the environment and community vitality.
“The programs we offer and teach throughout San Juan County are very focused on that,” she said.
Pacheco-White said First Tee is devoted to removing the barriers that keep young people from participating in golf, be they financial, transportation or other issues. She said the organization also focuses on helping participants develop an understanding of the importance of biodiversity, water conservation and wildlife conservation.
Most of all, she said, First Tee is focused on teaching skills that help kids develop confidence and resiliency.
“Those four components were a really good fit for what we teach,” she said.
First Tee operates its core programs out of the Riverview Golf Course in Kirtland. Pacheco-White said the organization has a strong partnership with Eva B. Stokely Elementary School in Shiprock, where First Tee concepts are taught in physical education classes. Many of the school’s students also recently took part in a field day at Riverview, and Pacheco-White said First Tee would start its Special Olympic programs and weekly summer classes later this month.
First Tee also works regularly with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Farmington and Bloomfield, she said, helping the organization reach 4,000 to 5,000 young people a year.
In the fall, the organization plans on launching a major girls golf initiative that is aimed at building self-esteem, developing their leadership skills and helping them with setting goals. The program also is designed to help prepare girls for careers in the field of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, she said.
“We’re just excited that PNM is making this possible for us,” Pacheco-White said.
Erin Hourihan, the executive director of Childhaven, an organization that provides child victim services to more than 1,000 young people and their parents each year, said the funding her organization is receiving from the foundation will help cover the operational costs of its shelter, which provides a temporary safe space for children who have been removed from homes because of abuse or neglect or families that are enduring challenging circumstances.
She said Childhaven works with the protective services division of the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department, Navajo Nation officials and local families to serve the community. She said it is a challenge every year for the organization to meeting its $2.5 million budget.
The shelter makes up a big part of that budget, she said, explaining that it operates around the clock on a daily basis, requiring a significant staffing commitment.
“The personnel costs are high but needed,” she said, adding that children and teen residents of the shelter are kept separate and supervised at all times.
The shelter features 32 beds spread across four halls and a nursery, Hourihan said, and crowding is rarely an issue. The facility was constructed so as to leave plenty of room for growth, she said, noting that on a typical day, the shelter might serve seven children in addition to the 13 or so young people Childhaven has placed in foster care.
Hourihan said she was grateful to the PNM Foundation for the funding, adding that she was especially appreciative of the organization’s willingness to support a broad range of programs.
“I like the fact that they’re open and flexible so we can put that money toward whatever need we’re having,” she said. “This year, it is really helpful to fill up some of the gap we have make the shelter budget whole.”
This year’s round of grants comes as the PNM Resources Foundation celebrates its 40th anniversary, a milestone that Laurie Roach, the group’s executive director, said serves as a reminder of the importance of supporting communities through nonprofit organizations.
“Their work is critical to address the most pressing issues facing our society, and we are grateful to the early founders who enabled this longstanding support of nonprofit impact,” she stated in the news release.
Mike Easterling can be reached at 505-564-4610 or measterling@daily-times.com.
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This article originally appeared on Farmington Daily Times: First Tee - Four Corners, Childhaven among 44 groups earning grants
