Community Partnership for Children
Grants Awarded
CPC’s Growing Minds Mobile Café & Exploratory will be a mobile, trailer‑based café and outdoor learning hub designed to expand access to nourishment, nature, and enrichment for underserved children and families across Grant County and surrounding rural communities. By bringing healthy snacks, café‑style beverages, and hands‑on outdoor learning directly to parks, trailheads, schoolyards, and community gathering spaces, the project meets families where they already are—eliminating transportation barriers that often limit rural access to resources. The trailer will function as a central hub for safe snack service, hydration, and storage of outdoor and educational materials. Around it, staff will create pop‑up outdoor classrooms that invite children ages 0–18 to explore, move, and learn through nature. Rotating interactive stations will be sensory‑rich, developmentally appropriate, and grounded in place‑based education. These will include a Nature Builders Table with loose‑parts play using pinecones, sticks, stones, and recycled materials; a Story Circle featuring bilingual books and oral storytelling rooted in local culture; Curiosity Corners focused on regional plants, wildlife, and landforms; Mini Field Kits with binoculars, magnifiers, and sketch pads; and a Snack & Stewardship Station pairing nutritious food with prompts such as “What grows here?” and “How do we care for this land?” to build environmental awareness and a sense of belonging. Outdoor learning is especially critical in rural communities where formal enrichment programs, museums, and libraries are often distant or inaccessible. Growing Minds leverages the outdoors itself as a classroom—supporting physical health, mental well‑being, creativity, and resilience while strengthening children’s connection to their environment and community. Equity and inclusion are central to the project. All activities will be bilingual, sensory‑friendly, and adaptable for children of varying abilities. Families will also have access to a mobile resource library offering culturally relevant books, outdoor guides, and referrals to local support services—helping bridge gaps caused by limited transportation, internet access, or financial constraints. Programming will be co‑designed with local parks, schools, elders, and youth‑serving organizations to ensure cultural relevance and community ownership. Through recurring pop‑ups in at least six rural communities, Growing Minds aims to engage 500+ youth and caregivers. Older youth (12+) will participate as Junior Café Guides, gaining skills in outdoor facilitation, food safety, nature interpretation, and community engagement—supporting pathways to future education, leadership, and employment. Ultimately, Growing Minds Mobile Café & Exploratory will help rural families access resources, build confidence, and thrive—turning outdoor community spaces into welcoming places for learning, nourishment, and connection.
Community Partnership for Children (CPC)
Community Partnership for Children, Inc. (CPC) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to strengthening early childhood care and education systems for children and families in rural New Mexico. Founded in 2003 by childcare providers and early interventionists, CPC began as a grassroots response to significant gaps in early care, education, and family supports in Grant County—an economically distressed, rural community with high child poverty rates. CPC incorporated as a nonprofit in 2005 and received federal 501(c)(3) status in 2007.
CPC’s work centers on collaboration, systems‑building, and capacity development. A signature initiative is the LINKS shared services network, which supports the majority of licensed childcare capacity in Grant County by strengthening business operations, improving program quality, and fostering trust and collaboration among childcare providers. Through shared services, training, technical assistance, and administrative supports, CPC helps providers remain sustainable while focusing on high‑quality care for children ages birth to five.
Guided by a Community‑Wide Needs‑Based Assessment, CPC has expanded its impact through initiatives that elevate family voice, grow the childcare workforce, and improve access to care. These include the Family Leadership Team, the Home‑Grown Network for Childcare, community‑wide training efforts, early learning resource distribution, and the Community Portal for Children, a centralized childcare access and waitlist system. Through innovative programming, advocacy, and strategic partnerships, CPC is recognized as a leader in advancing equitable, high‑quality early childhood systems in rural communities.