Community Action Program provides full range of services

By Mike Marino
Cibola County Bureau

Eloisa Guana, left, the coordinator for the Community Action Program in Grants, and her assistant, Jacinta Hidalgo, make up the entire staff of the center. [Photo by Jeff Jones/Independent]

GRANTS — People living below the poverty line in New Mexico can look to the STARS for help.

The STARS project is a case management program available to single parents receiving TANF benefits who are serious about becoming self-sufficient, breaking the cycle of poverty and government assistance.

The program administered locally by CAP, the Mid-West Community Action Program, serves five counties in the area including Cibola County. It examines the causes of an individual's poverty, works to correct it and to assist them in getting an education, job training and placement. STARS is just one of the programs offered by CAP. It also provides aid to the elderly, poor families and children.

The CAP Program is headquarted in Los Lunas, and Bill Silva is the executive director. He oversees a staff of workers who are determined to meet the needs of the poor in the community. Depending on funding, CAP offices have a clothing bank, an open food pantry and can provide monetary assistance for prescription drugs, eyeglasses, school tuition and case management. All clients must meet federal income guidelines to qualify for participation in the program.

Local office
Eloisa Gauna is the local office's program coordinator, and Jacinta Hidalgo is her assistant. Their daily duties can include helping someone get a GED, receive computer training or some other specialty education for a vocational field, apply for food stamps, locate day care assitance and learn the basic skills of interaction with others, such as grooming and interviewing for a job. If there is a need they can't meet, they can refer the client to an agency or group that can.

Gauna said, "We're about people helping people. My particular passion is the elderly and disabled people that can't get around too much. I am also passionate about people in our society that fall through the cracks." Regarding how they treat each case at the center Gauna continued, "When a person comes in, we don't want to put a little bandage on their problem. We look into the cause of it and come up with a plan to fix it."

The CAP workers do an extensive interview with the applicant to determine his or her educational level and work status. They also want to make sure the applicant is serious and is neither looking for a handout nor trying to play the system.

On education, Gauna said, "We bring them into the program, and they start by working here as a volunteer first. If they don't have their GED, we take them up to the school to register and get their books. We then bring them here to our office to teach them how to work with people that are less fortunate than they are and try to get them back on their feet with multiple programs of education, job education and people skills."

Makeover
Some people initially come in unprepared in dress, speech and attitude; so Gauna and Hidalgo do a complete makeover of the individual, preparing him or her for the realities of the work world. At the same time, they instill the individual with a sense of confidence and self-esteem, two powerful ingredients to accomplishing goals.

CAP works to pool the resources of other community agencies, such as the Grants Housing Authority, home health care providers and social services. One of the organizations they work closely with is the Los Amigos weatherization program that will weatherize homes for low income family homeowners who need their help.

They provide help with clothing, utility bills, rent and mortgage, income tax assistance, and in the case of senior citizens on fixed incomes, they help with prescription drug assistance.

"On Social Security they have to pay for Medicare. Well, there is a program at Human Services that pays for Medicare premiums called QMB. If they are taking out for those Medicare programs from their income we put in an application for them and take it to Human Services for approval. We also look at their house to see if it needs to be weatherized to keep utility costs down and if they need home health care. One client can lead to ten different services and all cases are different," Gauna said.

Success stories
Although there are many in need of the services provided by CAP there are also many with success stories attesting to the value of the program.

Gauna said, "In one case the client needed car repair and we took care of that. We also arranged for day care for her child and enrolled her in the Head Start Program. Then we enrolled the client at NMSU and paid 10 percent of her tuition. Eventually she started college full time, graduated as a Certified Nurse Aid and completed the computer course we enrolled her in with a B average. We have many other similar cases of success."

Clients keep coming and federal grant money is available, but funding keeps getting cut; so, donations are always welcome at the center.

Gauna said, "The property we're on at 1150 Elm Street in Grants was rented to us by the City of Grants at a very reasonable price and we are extremely grateful to them for their help."

For more information on how the Mid-West New Mexico Community Action Program can assist you contact them in Cibola County at 287-8262; Valencia County at 865-9697; McKinley County at 722-3261; Socorro County at 835-0899 and in Catron County at 835-0899.