More than 18,000 children and youth experienced homelessness last year in New Mexico. At least 8,000 of these children and youth were under the age of six. The constant barrage of stressful and traumatic experiences has profound effects on their development and ability to learn, ultimately affecting their success in life. A Home for Every Child seeks to galvanize the public and political will necessary to end this crisis. Based on the belief that it is unacceptable for any child to be homeless for even one night, A Home for Every Child is a call to action with the following goals:

·         Increase public awareness of the scope and impact of homelessness on children and families,

·         Inform state and local policies and plans to better address the needs of homeless children and families,

·         Improve program design and service delivery to effectively meet the unique needs of homeless children and families.

A Home for Every Child connects families, communities, service providers, advocates, policymakers, elected officials, and the media to address child and family homelessness through an array of coordinated local and state-based efforts. A Home for Every Child is an initiative of Cuidando los Niños in partnership with many New Mexican communities and organizations.

Read more about A Home for Every Child in our Albuquerque Journal Op Ed piece.

    Get the FACTS about child and family homelessness in New Mexico.

 

In Fall 2010, Cuidando los Niños was one of five initiatives hosting Strong Starts for Children Community Dialogues, with support from Everyday Democracy and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Over 100 Albuquerqueans joined inf our Dialogue to Action Teams to learn about child and family homelessness and to design and carry out community projects to help end child and family homelessness in our communities. For information, check out the Community Dialogues to Action page.  The first team that moved into action sponsored the Youth Creating Change Film and Art Festival, to involve young people in becoming informed advocates for ending child and family homelessness. See below for more information.

Our policy efforts in 2010-2011 resulted in two major accomplishments.  A report to the legislature on "Ending Child and Family Homelessness in New Mexico," pursuant to HM 7 passed in 2010, was presented to the Legislative Health and Human Services Committee in November 2010. During the 2011 Legislative Session, HJM 22, passed with near unanimous consent, asks the Governor to establish an interagency council on child homelessness, coordinating state efforts to end child homelessness in NM. See "Ending Child and Family Homelessness in New Mexico" for more information.

For information about what YOU can do to help end child and family homelessness in New Mexico, check out the attachment below: What YOU Can do to End Child Homelessness in NM.

For more information about A Home for Every Child, contact Wendy Wintermute, Advocacy Program Director, 505-843-6899 x115 or at WendyW@CLNkids.org.

 

Youth Creating Change Film Festival

The Youth Creating Change Film & Art Festival is our way of engaging young people in advocating for child homelessness, as well as providing young people interested in media arts an outlet for their work to be seen.The Second Annual Youth Creating Change Film & Art Festival will be held on May 5, 2012 at the South Broadway Cultural Center.  For information on how you can participate and/or support this venture, please visit the Youth Creating Change Website, or contact Vittoria Totaro, at vittoriat@clnkids.org or 505-854-6899.

 

The winning films from the First Annual Youth Creating Change Film & Art Festival in 2011 have been posted on Cuidando's YouTube Channel and are available for distribution across the state to educate and motivate communities to end child and family homelessness in New Mexico.