Nurturing Center
History of the Nurturing Center
Founded in 2016, the Nurturing Center emerged in response to a growing need for family-centered support in Taos County. Rooted in relational, culturally responsive care, our mission is to support families navigating intergenerational poverty, trauma, and substance use. At the heart of the Nurturing Center is a passionate and dedicated staff whose advocacy efforts have earned the deep trust of the community. As a vital resource embedded in schools and homes, our team works tirelessly to meet families where they are, bridging gaps left by traditional systems.
Programs Available
Current Initiative: Healing and Enrichment Through Connection
The Growing Strong initiative provides healing non-clinical services that center mentorship, joy, and community connection. Too often, children affected by parental substance use, poverty, and trauma are denied transformative opportunities like skiing, equine therapy, hiking, fishing, or the arts. Growing Strong eliminates barriers by covering costs, offering transportation, and connecting youth with enriching activities that reflect their interests and cultural identity. Serving 75–100 children annually, the program nurtures resilience and belonging for Taos youth.
Support Our Work
Your donation bridges critical gaps for families in Taos County. Whether it funds a ski pass, ensures a child has warm clothing, or helps a caregiver keep the lights on, every contribution builds lasting impact.
The Sparkle Fund Covers extracurricular activity fees and opens doors to transformative experiences such as skiing, equine therapy, hiking, fishing, dance, theater, and art classes.
Keep the Lights on Fund assists families with essential utility costs and emergency home needs.
Clothe a Child Fund provides seasonally appropriate clothing, coats, and shoes so children can thrive with dignity.
Multiple Donation Options
Growing Strong
A Path to Resilience for Youth of Taos County
A Program of The Nurturing Center at Taos Behavioral Health
Growing Strong is a youth resilience initiative created by The Nurturing Center in direct response to what our staff saw every day in Taos County schools and homes. Too many young people were carrying the weight of parental substance use, grief, instability, and adversity alone. Families were doing their best with limited resources, navigating complex systems without support. Children were showing up at school overwhelmed, disconnected, and unsure how to cope with what life had handed them.
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Growing Strong was developed to change that.
What We Do
Growing Strong provides consistent, relational, culturally responsive support for children and teens who have been impacted by parental substance use, incarceration, or trauma. We help young people build resilience, strengthen emotional skills, and experience meaningful connection through activities that honor their identities and ignite their potential.
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Our team works directly in schools, homes, and community spaces, meeting youth where they are and walking with them through challenges. We provide ongoing skill-building, mentorship, caregiver support, and access to enriching experiences that many families have never been able to access before.
Why It Matters
Children who face chronic stress and adversity need more than interventions. They need safety. They need consistent caring adults. They need opportunities to grow.
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Growing Strong builds protective factors that buffer the impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). The program is an upstream model deeply rooted in health-equity principles, addressing the social determinants of health that shape outcomes for rural Northern New Mexico families.
How We Support Youth
Growing Strong combines:
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Individual relational support with trained youth navigators
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Group-based social-emotional skill building
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Experiential and outdoor learning such as skiing, rafting, hiking, and art
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Academic encouragement, mentoring, and school engagement
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Caregiver navigation and kinship guardianship support through the NC
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Referrals and warm handoffs to clinical services at Taos Behavioral Health
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Growing Strong provides services to families at no cost, eliminating the financial barrier that made extracurricular activities out of reach. Youth do not just participate in a program, they join a community that sees them, believes in them, and champions their growth.
Meet the Nurturing Center Team
Dedication. Expertise. Passion.
