Adelante Development Center, Inc.

The following are press releases and stories that have appeared in the media about Adelante in the last year or two. For more current information visit the recent PR page.

Albuquerque Woman Defies Medical Expectations

Albuquerque, NM-- Entering the world weighing just one pound, Joy Lynn Aragon was not expected to live past two years of age, suffering from cerebral palsy. Now 34, she has her own job and her positive attitude allows her to live a fulfilling life.

Joy Lynn is blessed with a loving family, friends, and since graduating from Belen High School (just outside of Albuquerque), a job she truly enjoys at Adelante Bargain Square thrift store in Belen. Although her family cannot afford a wheelchair-equipped van, Joy Lynn proudly takes the City of Belen RSVP van to work. She is well known for her positive outlook and sunny smile, which make her life so joyful. Her happiness extends to her coworkers at the thrift store, too. Each day upon arrival, Joy Lynn simply drives her wheelchair over to the task board and figures out where she's assigned. Joy Lynn says, “Adelante is paying me to work hard wherever I am needed, so I just work where they need me and am happy to earn my paycheck.”

Knowing more of Joy Lynn's life story, people gain an even greater appreciation for her positive outlook. Joy Lynn has weathered a lot of challenges, beyond her medical issues and physical limitations. Joy Lynn lost her mother when she was just 12 years of age, at the same time she herself had to undergo surgery to insert a rod into her spine. She says an angel told her of her mother's passing, but offered Joy Lynn the comfort that she would be taken care of. Her aunt moved into the family home so Joy Lynn would have the support she needs. Joy Lynn now refers to her aunt as “Mom” and remains close to her two brothers and their families.

Due to the hard work of people like Joy Lynn, Bargain Square has been able to offer more jobs to people with disabilities. During recent celebrations recognizing store associates' hard work, Joy Lynn could be seen dancing and laughing with her co-workers. It's clear she loves her job. Joy Lynn says, “I want to keep working as long as I can. I love being in the store. I don't think other people appreciate getting a chance to have a life outside the confines of your house...to feel you are really part of the world.” Perhaps the most important work Joy Lynn is doing is demonstrating her appreciation of life to all who enter Bargain Square. It's certainly a lesson everyone could benefit from, as many take life for granted until they meet someone like Joy Lynn.

Adelante is doing its part for the environment. As a local non-profit agency working in support of people with disabilities in New Mexico, Adelante manages its organization in harmony with the planet through the agency's Verde initiatives. Adelante recognizes that not only is it good for the planet to run the agency's operations in an environmentally friendly manner, but it makes good financial sense for the nonprofit organization, too. With over 150,000 square feet of managed property, a fleet of over 100 vehicles, a payroll of over 900 people and support services for over 800 people with disabilities, Adelante has reaped the benefits of going green. Two years ago, the agency set goals to raise awareness of the agency's impact on the planet, reduce electrical and gas consumption, and reduce paper use across the agency, and Adelante has been able to reduce costs as a result.

“Taking the initiative to go green was a good idea for our environment as well as the financial health of our agency,” says Jim Bullard, the Vice President of Adelante who leads the agency's facilities department.

Adelante has completed energy audits on all of the agency's sites, including homes and commercial settings. In addition, the nonprofit has completed a number of good energy and water saving tasks like changing out light fixtures and bulbs for lower energy use compact fluorescents, changing to low-water use toilets, and eliminating some of the high-water use landscaping, and introducing recycling programs around the agency. In addition, Adelante recycles thousands of pounds of paper each month through Document Destruction Services and helps people recycle and re-use clothing, furniture, and other items through Adelante Bargain Square Thrift Stores. Adelante also runs Desert Harvest Food Rescue that reduces food waste in the community by rescuing surplus food from local restaurants and giving it to other nonprofit agencies. “Many businesses believe that helping to create an eco-friendly world is expensive and time consuming,” said CEO, Mike Kivitz. “Not only is going green beneficial to our environment, but it reduces electrical, utility and operating expenses, allowing these savings to be returned to our programs.”

Adelante is a nonprofit agency helping people with disabilities achieve their goals through vocational and life skills training, residential services, volunteer opportunities, and employment.

Maria Cordova, an employment consultant for Adelante Development Center, was honored by ANCOR this week in New Orleans, LA for her work in helping people with disabilities find employment. ANCOR (The American Network of Community Options and Resources) is a nonprofit trade association representing and advocating on behalf of more than 800 private service providers for people with disabilities. Of the 238 nominations submitted nationwide for the Direct Support Staff Member of the Year, 40 awards went to state winners, and Cordova earned the single national award.

Despite economic barriers in finding employment (especially for people with disabilities), Maria has established positive relationships with 57 new employers who provide jobs, and has single-handedly secured 115 jobs for people with disabilities, an Adelante record. In addition to securing jobs, Maria has gone the extra mile to ensure people with disabilities have the tools they need to reach their personal goals and succeed at work. She single-handedly coordinated a job fair, setup a comprehensive food-service training program for people interested in working in the hospitality industry, and created a “ Clothing Closet,” which made professional attire available to individuals for job interviews.

Adelante offers vocational and life skills training, community living services, volunteer opportunities, and employment to over 800 New Mexicans with disabilities with the help of wonderful employees like Maria.

Paul Luttrell the Associate VP of Business Development for Adelante won the Chairman's Award at the 2010 Goodwill Edgar Awards. The Chairman's award recognizes the achievements of one individual in the human services field in New Mexico.

For over 23 years, Paul Luttrell has worked with Adelante to support and empower people with disabilities, especially in the area of employment, including work through government contracts and the Social Security Ticket to Work program. Paul developed and helped Adelante earn Federal contracts at Kirtland Air Force Base and at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Artesia, helping the agency to employ hundreds of people with disabilities. Paul also developed a program to help another 33 agencies find jobs for people with disabilities in New Mexico and has offered trainings on disability employment issues locally and nationally.

Adelante is very proud of Paul and his dedication to working on the issue of employment for people with disabilities. For information about Adelante's affirmative businesses employing people with disabilities visit www.AdelanteEnterprises.com .

March 17, 2010

Adelante Development Center welcomes Patricia Marx and Leonard DeLayo, Jr. to its Board of Directors.

Patricia Marx, Chief Operating Officer for the Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute, brings expertise in financial management, strategic planning, resource management, and legal compliance management. Marx has also been the Board President for both Eastway Community Mental Health and Montgomery County Easter Seals.

Leonard J. DeLayo, Jr., an Attorney at Law at Leonard J. DeLayo, Jr., P.C., brings extensive knowledge in educational policies and procedures, as well as procurement law and public employee law. DeLayo has been a board member for over 10 organizations, and is also the current Chairman of the First Community Bank Board of Directors.

The award ceremony took place in conjunction with a tour of Adelante Mailing Services in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Adelante Mailing Services is an affirmative business that employs over 60 people with disabilities. The business is operated by Adelante Development Center, a locally founded nonprofit agency working in support of people with disabilities. Adelante employs over 350 people with disabilities through commercial and government work, operating six affirmative businesses.

AbilityOne Congressional Champions are elected policy makers who have demonstrated significant knowledge and support for the AbilityOne program and community providers in his or her district, or through Congressional Committee actions in support of the program. Congressman Heinrich was recognized as an AbilityOne Champion due to his efforts to improve the lives of people with disabilities in New Mexico, especially his work addressing employment. As a relatively new Representative, Heinrich has worked to educate himself about the needs of workers with disabilities through site tours to local agencies offering employment. In addition Heinrich has provided letters of support for funding for projects that will provide employment for people with disabilities in his district, including veterans with disabilities.

The AbilityOne Program provides employment opportunities to more than 45,000 people who are blind or have other severe disabilities in the United States. Community-based, nonprofit organizations employ individuals with disabilities and provide quality goods and services to the federal government. Several nonprofits in New Mexico, including Adelante Development Center, take part in the AbilityOne program.

Adelante received a $ 5,000 grant from the PNM Fund to implement energy savings measures designed to decrease its energy bill.

The grant is one of 44 Reduce Your Use grants awarded by the PNM Fund to nonprofits around the state to provide tools for increased energy efficiency and lower bills. The funds are being used to replace the windows at one of the agency's residential homes that offer 24-hour support for people with disabilities. The purchase of more energy efficient windows will reduce utility costs and provide a safer environment for the individuals living in the home.

According to Diane Harrison Ogawa, executive director of the PNM Resources Foundation, organizations from across the state applied for the grants totaling $200,000. “We are pleased that so many New Mexico nonprofits are looking for ways to conserve energy. By reducing energy consumption, they can focus more of their money on their respective missions.” Since its inception in 1983, the PNM Resources Foundation has invested more than $5 million to help create or maintain essential community programs. This is the first grant program of its kind that directly funds energy efficiency measures for nonprofits and tracks the resulting energy efficiency into the future.

Any 501(c) 3 organization operating within PNM's electric service territory was eligible to submit a grant application. For more information about the PNM Fund, visit www.pnm.com.

The PNM Fund is a division of the PNM Resources Foundation, a nonprofit established in 1983 to improve the quality of life in communities PNM Resources' customers and employees live and work. Celebrating its twenty-fifth anniversary, the PNM Resources Foundation is a separate nonprofit, tax-exempt corporation and was originally endowed by a gift from earnings by shareholders of PNM. No customer funds are part of the endowment. For more information, visit www.pnm.com/fund .

Adelante Honors Local Businesses in Celebration of National Disability Employment Awareness Month

In celebration of National Disability Employment Awareness Month, Adelante Development Center, a local nonprofit supporting people with disabilities, honored six businesses for their support in providing employment opportunities for New Mexicans with disabilities.

Award winners included the Bernalillo County Metro Detention Center, Casa Esperanza, Modrall Sperling Law Firm, Village Inn Restaurant, the National Hispanic Cultural Center, and the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center. The businesses were recognized for their long-term support and patronage of Adelante's affirmative businesses, which employ over 350 people with disabilities in New Mexico. Village Inn was recognized for their work with Adelante Employment Services, specifically providing employment for people with disabilities in their restaurant.

The support of the business community is important in addressing the high unemployment rates for people with disabilities. In the United States, the unemployment rate for people with disabilities is over 70 percent. When employed, individuals have greater independence, can contribute to society as taxpayers, and reduce their dependence on government support.

Adelante runs a variety of affirmative businesses with a dual mission – to provide quality business services while employing people with disabilities. Through Adelante, people with disabilities provide assembly, packaging, mailing, scanning, shredding, and janitorial services for local companies and government entities. To research the services available through Adelante and to support employment for people with disabilities, business owners can visit www.AdelanteEnterprises.com .

Vikta brings over 25 years of extensive financial management experience to Adelante. A former Certified Public Accountant, he has managed finances for corporate and private organizations in California, Illinois, Minnesota, New Mexico, and around the world. As Finance Director with Kraft Foods International, the world's second largest global food company, he was responsible for the financial operations in France, Lithuania and Turkey over a seven-year period. Vikta has extensive experience in complex, manufacturing, strategic business and process improvements. Originally from Chicago, Vikta speaks four languages, has dual citizenship in the United States and Lithuania, and enjoys traveling, skiing, and digital photography.

Mexican and serves on the executive board for Albuquerque Economic Development. An active community volunteer, Adams has previously won the U.S. Attorney General's Citizen of the Year Award and a Presidential Volunteer Service Award.

May 21, 2009

Adelante Desert Harvest Food Rescue Receives Grant from Bank of Albuquerque

The Adelante Desert Harvest Food Rescue program recently received a $1,500 grant from the Bank of Albuquerque.

The Bank of Albuquerque has committed itself to serving the community. The bank promotes affordable housing for low-income individuals, supports small

Nathan Peinado (left) and Desert Harvest program manager Jim Knutson, delivering food to local nonprofit agency Trinity House.

business development efforts, provides financial education, and drives revitalization projects. The BOKF Foundation is the bank's charitable entity, guided by a board of directors, which exists to serve the needs of the community.

The grant will be used to cover operating costs for Adelante Desert Harvest including food safe packaging and transportation costs. For more information about the Bank of Albuquerque visit http://www.bankofalbuquerque.com/infocenter/ . For more information about Adelante's Desert Harvest program contact Jim Knutson at 341-7186.

May 19, 2009

Adelante Desert Harvest Food Rescue Program

Receives Grant from the General Mills Foundation

The Adelante Desert Harvest Food Rescue Program recently received a $6,500 grant from the General Mills Foundation. Adelante has operated Desert Harvest Food Rescue since 2001, as a way to provide volunteer opportunities for people with disabilities while addressing the ongoing problem of hunger in New Mexico. Desert Harvest has rescued over 2 million meals to date by partnering with local grocers and restaurants that donate surplus prepared food, which might otherwise go to waste. The food is delivered to 15 other nonprofit organizations that distribute the food to people throughout central New Mexico.

The General Mills Foundation was created in 1954. The foundation's mission is to provide financial support to nonprofit organizations that create sustainable community improvement in the areas of youth nutrition and fitness, social services, education and arts and culture. Since its inception, the General Mills Foundation has awarded over $400 million to nonprofit organizations. During the 2008 fiscal year, the Foundation contributed $21 million in grants throughout the United States.

The grant will be used to help pay for Desert Harvest operational costs including food safe packaging and transportation. At just six cents per meal, the funds will help Desert Harvest rescue over 100,000 meals. For more information about the General Mills Foundation please visit www.generalmills.com . For more information about Adelante Desert Harvest please visit http://www.goadelante.org/desert_harvest.html or contact Jim Knutson, the program's manager at 341-7186.

March 23, 2009

Adelante Desert Harvest Food Rescue Program Receives Grant From The Domanica Foundation

The Adelante Desert Harvest Food Rescue Program has recently received a $2,000 grant from The Domanica Foundation.

Adelante has operated Desert Harvest since 2001, which has rescued over 1.5 million pounds of food to help alleviate hunger in the Albuquerque community. The program partners with local grocery stores and restaurants that donate surplus food, which would otherwise go to waste. The surplus food then goes to community partners who distribute food to hungry citizens in our community. Desert Harvest also functions to provide volunteer opportunities for people with disabilities, who pick up and deliver donor surplus food.

The Domanica Foundation is a private family foundation whose mission is to "promote the welfare of people in New Mexico through programs that enhance and enrich their lives." Since 1994, the foundation has supported educational and social programs that foster empowerment and respect. The foundation's primary grant making interests are hunger, homelessness, and education, which is largely in service to New Mexico recipients.

The grant will be used towards food safe packaging supplies, transportation costs and administrative costs to support the program. For more information about the Domanica Foundation please visit http://www.domanicafoundation.org/ . For more information about the Desert Harvest Food Rescue Program and/or how you can contribute food, money or time please visit http://www.goadelante.org/desert_harvest.html or contact Jim Knutson at 341-7186.

The funding will help Friends in Time cover the cost of nurse education and counseling for people with severe neuromuscular diseases.

Many people and their families are overwhelmed by the diagnosis, symptoms, and physical and cognitive limitations of neuromuscular diseases. They often fall between the gaps in current medical and social services. Adelante Friends in Time fills those gaps and helps families adapt their homes and lives to the challenges of chronic illness in order to allow each person to maintain as much independence as possible.

Albuquerque Community Foundation is a partnership of donors, nonprofit agencies, and the community working together to find solutions to pressing needs. Albuquerque Community Foundation has connected people who care to causes that matter for over 25 years. Visit www.albuquerquefoundation.org for more information.

A $10,000 grant will help the agency's Desert Harvest Food Rescue program, including food-safe packaging and transportation costs. Desert Harvest has a dual mission – to provide volunteer opportunities for people with disabilities and to help end hunger in New Mexico. Desert Harvest utilizes an existing food source – perishable, prepared food – that would otherwise go to waste, currently rescuing over 45,000 pounds of food per month in Bernalillo, Sandoval, and Valencia Counties at a cost of just 7 cents per meal. Program volunteers pick up surplus food from area grocers and restaurants and deliver it directly to other area nonprofits with food service programs for people who are homeless, at-risk youth, and low-income teen mothers, and others in need.

Adelante also received a $2,500 Reduce Your Use Grant that will help to fund the purchase of an on-demand water heater and an energy efficient washer and dryer at Adelante's Pathways program.

The PNM Fund, a division of the PNM Resources Foundation, distributes grants for nonprofit projects that meet community needs. Adelante greatly appreciates PNM's contributions.

Fiore CEO Bill Miera says, “Fiore's business is about making technology serve mankind and finding practical functions for the application of technology. Adelante uses assistive technology and devices to improve the lives of people with disabilities and we want to support their efforts.”

Adelante Development Center, a local nonprofit agency working in support of people with disabilities, was awarded a $50,000 grant from the Daniels Fund for the agency's Friends in Time program. The funding will allow the program to purchase assistive technology devices and cover the cost of staff members that help people with severe neuromuscular disabilities put the technology to use. Through the Friends in Time loan bank, assistive devices help people overcome some of the symptoms and physical and limitations caused by neuromuscular diseases, allowing them to communicate with their families and caregivers, shop from home, and maintain as much independence as possible.

Friends in Time is the only nonprofit program providing hands-on support services for people with multiple sclerosis and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in central New Mexico. The Daniels Fund operates the Daniels Fund Scholarship Program and the Daniels Fund Grants Program in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. The Fund was established in 1997 by Bill Daniels, a pioneer in cable television known for his kindness and generosity to those in need.

2008 to take care of some long needed yard work. Adelante is a nonprofit agency in New Mexico that supports over 700 people with disabilities and the house is a group home for three men with severe disabilities.

The house, which was built in the 1950's, had brick pavers in a huge patio area. Unfortunately, the house's prior owner who did the initial installation didn't use the best quality bricks or put the proper footing under the patio. The backyard was virtually unusable by the men who live there because the multiple levels and trip hazards on the patio made wheelchair and walker use a very unappealing adventure.

Thanks to Team Compass, from Compass Bank in Albuquerque, New Mexico, those rotten pavers are gone. They broke bricks, shoveled, and loaded their hearts out for hours and finished the whole task at record pace. Adelante was thrilled with the positive attitudes that the group brought to the project and very pleased with the outcome, too. Now the agency can get new materials in place so the entire back yard will be accessible for the men who live their and their friends and family, too.

exemplary work in partnership with Adelante in helping New Mexicans with disabilities find and maintain employment.

Adelante's mission is to “help people with disabilities achieve their goals” and one of the primary goals is employment. Adelante manages the dormitory contract at the Federal Law Enforcement Center (FLETC) in Artesia and utilizes that contract to offer people with disabilities long-term job opportunities with paid training and paid vacations. The contract at FLETC was awarded through the national AbilityOne program, which provides a contracting option for federal agencies that provides employment for people with disabilities. Adelante has been working with other local agencies and DVR to staff those positions with people with qualifying disabilities. Rodriguez's work with Adelante at FLETC was recognized because he went above and beyond his job requirements to help people with disabilities succeed in the workplace.

Rodriguez began working with Adelante in June 2005, referring people with disabilities from Artesia, Carlsbad, and Roswell to work on the dormitory contract at FLETC. Rodriguez has referred over half of all employees with disabilities at FLETC. Since June of 2005, he has made 37 referrals resulting in jobs for 22 people with disabilities. Rodriguez has also been instrumental in trying to raise funds to purchase vans to transport the workers to FLETC. With no public transportation in the area, many individuals with disabilities struggle finding transportation to and from work and it is often the primary barrier to employment. Without the extensive efforts of Rodriguez, Adelante's staffing efforts for the FLETC contract would not be nearly as successful.

Adelante is still actively recruiting people with disabilities to work at FLETC and Rodriguez remains part of that effort. For more information about Adelante or to inquire about job opportunities for people with disabilities at FLETC, please call 746-5721.

The funding will help cover the operational costs for Desert Harvest, including food-safe packaging and transportation. Desert Harvest has a dual mission – to provide volunteer opportunities for people with disabilities and to help end hunger in New Mexico. Program volunteers pick up surplus food from area restaurants and deliver it directly to other area nonprofits with food service programs for homeless families, at-risk youth, low-income teen mothers, and others in need.

Desert Harvest is unique in that the program utilizes an existing food source – perishable, prepared food – that would otherwise go to waste. The program is made possible by food donations from local restaurants and grocers. The program currently rescues over 30,000 pounds of food per month in central New Mexico at a cost of just 7 cents per meal.

The Kiwanis Club of Albuquerque is a local service club that is associated with Kiwanis International. The club's mission is “ improving the world one community and one child at a time .” Fittingly, the grant is an investment that will provide over 30,000 meals to children and their families through Desert Harvest. The program receives no government funds and is reliant on individual donors and grants like this one. For more information on Adelante's Desert Harvest program call 341-7186.

disabilities including developmental disabilities, neuromuscular disease, and loss of ability caused by aging.

The agency, which offers vocational and life skills training, residential services, volunteer opportunities, and employment and has locations

Adelante Friends in Time Receives $15,000 Grant from Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation

Adelante Development Center received a $15,000 Quality of Life grant from the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation (CDRF). The award was one of the nearly 100 grants totaling approximately $900,000 given by CDRF to nonprofit organizations that help people living with disabilities become more integrated members of society.

Adelante currently supports nearly 700 people with mental and physical disabilities in New Mexico. The grant from CDRF will support Adelante’s Friends in Time program, which is the only non-profit program in New Mexico providing critical hands-on assistance to people with severe chronic neuromuscular diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease). Friends in Time receives no government funds and remains dependent on foundations and individual donations to continue to provide services. Adelante is very appreciative of the support provided by the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation.

The Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation is dedicated to curing spinal cord injury by funding innovative research, and improving the quality of life for people living with paralysis through grants, information, and advocacy. Begun in 1999 by the late Dana Reeve, the CDRF Quality of life grant program has given over $10 million to organizations nationwide. For more information on CDRF visit the foundation on the Web at www.ChristopherReeve.org.

Adelante appreciated the support of the event’s major sponsors: New Mexico Heritage Hotels, New Mexico Bank and Trust, and 610AM The Sports Animal.

The High Desert neighbored provided a beautiful setting for Run for the Hills that included at 10K and 5K runs and a fitness walk through the Sandia foothills. Proceeds benefited Adelante Development Center and will help the agency provide employment, life skills training, therapies, and residential support for people with disabilities.

Bingaman received a JWOD Champion Award on August 8, 2007 at Adelante’s Bargain Square Thrift Store in Los Lunas, New Mexico. The store offers retail training for people with disabilities and is operated by Adelante Development Center, a local nonprofit agency that supports over 650 people with disabilities in New Mexico. The public was invited to attend and over 100 community members came out to support the Senator.The JWOD ( Javits-Wagner-O'Day ) Program provides employment opportunities to more than 45,000 people who are blind or have other severe disabilities in the United States. Community-based, nonprofit organizations employ individuals and provide quality goods and services to the federal government. Several nonprofit agencies in New Mexico, including Adelante Development Center, take part in the JWOD program. JWOD Congressional Champions, including Senator Bingaman, are elected policy makers who have demonstrated significant knowledge and support for the JWOD program and community providers in his or her district and/or State, or through Congressional Committee actions in support of the JWOD program.

Congressman Bingaman, along with the entire congressional delegation supported a federal investment for Adelante to develop employment opportunities for people with disabilities in New Mexico. This funding helped the agency to open the Bargain Square Thrift Store in Los Lunas. As a result, Adelante now employs 353 people with disabilities throughout New Mexico.

The agency offers vocational and life skills training, community living services, volunteer opportunities, and employment to nearly 700 New Mexicans with disabilities.

The agency manages over 20 homes for people with disabilities and the money raised will help Adelante make needed repairs to the homes in Valencia County. Adelante appreciates the hard work Liberty put into the event and all the local businesses and organizations who pitched in to make the event a success: Albertson’s, Bauer & Associates, Benny’s/Benny’s II, El Seminario, Jus-4-Fun, Los Lunas Art & Frames, Los Lunas Fire Department, 106.3 The Range, Rak’s Building Supply, local band Chemical Imbalance, and the Valencia County News Bulletin.

Mailing Services provides businesses with quality mailing services while offering employment opportunities for over 60 people with disabilities. The affirmative business recently underwent a renovation and the PNM staff helped by painting three of the rooms in the facility. They also worked with people with disabilities to create artwork that now hangs on the walls in the break room. Adelante offers vocational and life skills training, community living services, volunteer opportunities, and employment to nearly 700 New Mexicans with disabilities.

Adelante Development Center, a local nonprofit agency working in support of people with disabilities, recently elected new members to its Board of Directors.

Don McLeod, Executive Director of A New Day, and Ray Barton, Business Relationship Manager for Wells Fargo Bank, are new to the Adelante Board.

Officers for 2006-2007 will be Dr. Richard Cronin, Bob Walton, Bill Miera, and Ray Berg. Betty Blea, Randy Burge, Cathy Fernandez, Claire Garner, Helen Jackson, Molly Madden, Cate McClain, Nancy Renner, and Dr. Art Weinstein are returning members.

Adelante Development Center, a local nonprofit agency working in support of people with disabilities, was awarded a $20,000 grant from the PNM Resources Foundation for the agency’s Desert Harvest Food Rescue program. The funding will help cover the operational costs for Desert Harvest including food-safe packaging and transportation costs. Desert Harvest has a dual mission – to provide volunteer opportunities for people with disabilities and to help end hunger in New Mexico. Program volunteers pick up surplus food from area restaurants and deliver it directly to other area nonprofits with food service programs for people who are homeless, at-risk youth, and low-income teen mothers, and others in need.

Desert Harvest is unique in that the program utilizes an existing food source – perishable, prepared food – that would otherwise go to waste. The program currently rescues over 29,000 pounds of food per month in Bernalillo, Sandoval, and Valencia Counties at a cost of just 8 cents per meal.

The PNM Fund, a division of the PNM Resources Foundation, has distributed nearly $5 million to fund nonprofit projects that meet community needs. In 1983, PNM shareholders created the PNM Foundation as a separate, nonprofit, tax-exempt corporation governed by a board of trustees comprised of PNM employees. Adelante greatly appreciates PNM’s investment in this cost-effective and highly beneficial program. PNM’s commitment is an investment of $10,000 for the next two years to help sustain the program.

Woodmen of the World fraternal organization donated $250 in art supplies to Adelante Development Center’s Westside Community Options program. Adelante is a local nonprofit agency that helps people with disabilities achieve their goals. The Community Options program helps people with disabilities learn life skills and uses a variety of projects including artistic endeavors in that effort. Adelante offers vocational and life skills training, community living services, volunteer opportunities, and employment to over 600 New Mexicans with disabilities.

Adelante Development Center, a local nonprofit agency working in support of people with disabilities, was awarded a $50,000 grant from the Daniels Fund for the agency’s Friends in Time program.

The funding will allow the program to purchase assistive technology devices and cover the cost of staff members that help people with severe neuromuscular disabilities put the technology to use. Through the Friends in Time loan bank, assistive devices help people overcome some of the symptoms and physical and limitations caused by neuromuscular diseases, allowing them to communicate with their families and caregivers, shop from home, and maintain as much independence as possible.

Friends in Time is the only nonprofit program providing hands-on support services for people with multiple sclerosis and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in central New Mexico. Bill Daniels, a former resident of Hobbs and Roswell, established the Daniels Fund in 1997 to provide help and hope to those in need. When he died in 2,000, his estate transferred to the Fund, making it the largest foundation in the Rocky Mountain region.

Adelante Document Destruction Services, a local shredding business, recently won a national award from the United States Department of Agriculture for the company’s outstanding work for the Forest Service Financial Operations Center in Albuquerque.

Adelante Document Destruction Services provides secure paper and e-media shredding for the Albuquerque Service Center where the Forest Service’s financial processes are handled for the entire country. Adelante was one of only four businesses recognized nationally by the USDA as a Javits-Wagner-O’Day Award winner.

The Javits-Wagner-O'Day (JWOD ) p rogram provides employment opportunities to more than 45,000 people nationwide who are blind or have other severe disabilities in the United States. Community-based, nonprofit organizations like Adelante employ individuals and provide goods and services to the federal government through the JWOD program.

Adelante Document Destruction Services is operated by Adelante Development Center, a local nonprofit agency. As an affirmative business, Adelante works to provide the best possible products and services for government as well as commercial customers while simultaneously providing employment opportunities for people with disabilities. Adelante is the only shredding business in New Mexico that has both a AAA certification from the National Association of Information Destruction (NAID) and ISO 9001:2000 through the International Organization for Standardization.

Adelante Friends in Time Gets a $10,000 Grant from Albuquerque Community Foundation

Adelante Development Center, a local nonprofit agency working in support of people with disabilities, was awarded a $10,000 grant from the Albuquerque Community Foundation for the agency’s Friends in Time program. The funding will help the program cover the cost of nurse educator and in-home counseling for people with severe chronic neuromuscular disabilities such as multiple sclerosis and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s disease). These services help people and their families who are overwhelmed by the diagnosis, symptoms, and physical and cognitive limitations of neuromuscular diseases.

Friends in Time is the only nonprofit program providing hands-on support services for people with MS and ALS in central New Mexico. Albuquerque Community Foundation has been a supporter of Adelante, a locally-founded nonprofit, for many years. This year, the foundation is celebrating 25 years of connecting people who care with causes that matter in Albuquerque.

Adelante Development Center’s Desert Harvest Food Rescue program just reached the milestone of 1 million pounds of food rescued. Desert Harvest was started in 2001 to address two needs – to alleviate hunger in Central New Mexico and to provide volunteer opportunities for people with disabilities. The program, which rescues surplus food from area restaurants and delivers it to other nonprofit agencies, has been a tremendous success.

In 2005, Desert Harvest rescued an average of 24,600 pounds of food per month – a several thousand pound increase from 2004. The two biggest months were August and October with 32,000 and 34,000 pounds, respectively. In 2005, 46 restaurants made donations and 18 recipient agencies benefited. Without Adelante’s Desert Harvest program, most of that food would have ended up in trash bins instead of feeding those in need. The program began by simply picking up surplus prepared foods and has now expanded into meals prepared especially for groups who need it. Seven area restaurants provide guest meals to our recipient agencies, most of them agencies supporting children in the community.

In Valencia County, Desert Harvest staff has also helped run the Belen Area Food Pantry for the past two years. Adelante helps keep it stocked and staffed with volunteers, many of who are people with disabilities participating in Adelante's programs. We also have run a food prep training program for people with disabilities through the Pantry kitchen. Several graduates are now employed in the community.

Finally, as Desert Harvest has expanded, our partnerships have helped us to nourish people beyond the food we collect. The program has provided vocational counseling to teens at recipient agencies and the Desert Harvest staff worked with Computer Reruns to provide 27 refurbished computer systems to low-income people and families in transitional and recovery programs. The people involved are in school using the computers as tools in their progress toward self-sufficiency.

Desert Harvest continually looks for food service establishments to donate their over-run food, monetary donors to cover the cost of food safe packaging, volunteer drivers, and agencies to assist. For more information contact Jim Knutson at 341-7186 or JKnutson@GoAdelante.org .

Congresswoman Heather Wilson and Adelante officials and clients held a press conference to announce federal funding to support Adelante's job programs for people with disabilities.

The federal investment was supported by the entire New Mexico congressional delegation and Congresswoman Wilson was instrumental in securing the funds. The money is earmarked to expand Adelante's business activities, providing necessary services to area businesses and providing additional jobs for people with disabilities in New Mexico.

Adelante CEO Mike Kivitz, Congresswoman Heather Wilson, and board chairwoman Nancy Renner spoke at the event. The press conference was rounded out by a testimonial from David Baldonado, a worker for Adelante's Assembly Services and Packaging business who has a disability.

Adelante Development Center, a nonprofit agency that helps people with disabilities achieve their goals, dedicated the agency’s newest facility, El Centro, to Senator Pete Domenici on Friday October 14, 2005.

The event was held at 3900 Osuna Road NE, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87109. It included a ribbon cutting and dedication of the building to Senator Domenici followed by tours of the facility. Senator Pete Domenici and Representative Heather Wilson were on hand to cut the ribbon. Friends of Adelante, parents, guardians, advocates, and case managers were also in attendance.

El Centro is Adelante’s newest community resource. It is the agency’s headquarters and a place for people with disabilities to learn about assistive technology, find employment, meet with other self-advocates, and more. It is also home to three other nonprofit agencies supporting people with disabilities. (New Mexico Business Leadership Network, Home New Mexico, and the Self-Advocacy Resource Center)

Adelante dedicated the building to Senator Domenici in honor of his work in service of people with disabilities. The Senator has helped Adelante expand and improve the employment opportunities of people with disabilities in New Mexico and been a champion of people with disabilities throughout his tenure in Congress.

Congresswoman Heather Wilson received a JWOD Champion Award at a seminar being held by the South Central Region of NISH and the National Council of Work Centers.

Congresswoman Wilson was recognized as a JWOD Champion due to her efforts to improve the lives of people with disabilities in New Mexico and across the country, especially her work addressing employment opportunities for people with disabilities. Congresswoman Wilson supported a federal investment for Adelante to develop employment opportunities for people with disabilities in New Mexico.

This funding helped the agency to open Adelante Document Destruction Services and a Bargain Square Thrift Store in Los Lunas. As a result, Adelante now employs 348 people with disabilities. Congresswoman Wilson presented awards at Celebrate Adelante, an annual award ceremony for people with disabilities, and spoke at the 2005 TechFair for the New Mexico Department of Vocational Rehabilitation. In addition, Congresswoman Wilson lead a task force on Medicaid to address the way the program handles the healthcare needs of low-income women and children, adults with disabilities, and low-income seniors.

The JWOD (Javits-Wagner-O'Day) Program provides employment opportunities to more than 45,000 people who are blind or have other severe disabilities in the United States. Community-based, nonprofit organizations employ individuals and provide quality goods and services to the federal government. Seven nonprofit agencies in New Mexico, including Adelante Development Center, take part in the JWOD program.

Adelante Development Center, a New Mexico nonprofit agency that helps people with disabilities achieve their goals, has opened a new Bargain Square Thrift Store location in Los Lunas. The store is at 701 East Main Street at the corner of Main Street and Los Lentes and has over 10,000 square feet of retail space. Bargain Square Los Lunas is now open for early bird shopping and staff training. The grand opening, Saturday, August 20, 2005, will include music, face painting, and lots of great bargains like backpacks for school for just $5.99. The store carries new and gently used items like house wares, clothing, furniture, toys, books, and tools.

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October 13, 2008

Bill Miera & Fiore Industries Honored for Donation to Adelante Development Center

Adelante Development Center