Organizational History
Volunteers established Cuidando Los Niños (CLN) as a non-profit organization in 1989. While they were helping provide food for the homeless, these volunteers saw that many of the homeless parents had very young children with them. The volunteers understood that homeless parents could not secure housing, employment and education without child care. To meet this need for child care, the founding group of volunteers focused on providing high quality, therapeutic child development through the structure of an independent not-for-profit organization. From the very beginning of the organization, individuals, faith-based ministries, and local businesses joined together to make the work of Cuidando Los Niños possible.
First Programs
In 1991, the Family Support Program was mobilized to assist parents in their efforts toward family independence and stability. As the children were being provided educational, nutritional, and therapeutic services, the parents became involved in classes and activities for their own development in being parents, wage earners, and advocates for their own families. Play Therapy was added in 1994 to help children who were traumatized by neglect and abuse or by the uncertainty of their homeless experience.
Pediatric Clinic
In 1999, a pediatric health care clinic was launched for the children. At the initial phase of the health clinic, minimal preventive health support was made available to the enrolled children. In 2005, under a partnership with Albuquerque Health Care of the Homeless, this clinic expanded to provide health care for all members of the families participating in the CLN program.
New Facilities
In 2006, the older facility that housed the programs of Cuidando Los Niños was found to be substandard according to the building codes of the City. Faced with the reality of having to possibly condemn the facility being used by Cuidando Los Niños, the City of Albuquerque formed a strategy involving support from federal, state and local sources to build a new facility for the work of Cuidando Los Niños. Two key legislators, Senator John Ryan and Senator Gerald Ortiz y Pino helped secure the necessary funding and a new facility for CLN became a reality in May of 2008.
Housing First
The organization is a strong proponent of the Housing First model that emphasizes the idea that families should be helped to exit homelessness as quickly as possible. To accomplish this goal CLN maintains a network of partnerships with other community organizations. 74% of families who finish the CLN program become rehoused and stabilized.
