2025 Day Program highlights
During spring and summer 2025, High Country Supported Living (HCSL) hosted 15 Day Programs focusing on visual art, music, movement, dance, and cooking at its rural property in Jacona, New Mexico and two cooking programs at the Santa Fe Public School’s Keeping Independent Visions Alive (KIVA) classroom. KIVA is the SFPS’s life skills and job training program for students with learning differences and special needs.
During HCSL's visual art programs, the participants made felted geode balls that were then cut in half to reveal colorful wool layers. They also constructed pop-up books, made clay figures to accompany stories that each participant created, carved apple heads, decorated fall lanterns, and crafted wreaths adorned with flowers and dried leaves. HCSL’s movement sessions featured a beginner’s yoga class and a dance class where participants moved their bodies to become different characters they created. During HCSL’s 2025 music session, the participants made their own drums and played a variety of percussion instruments.
The menus for HCSL's cooking programs featured fresh vegetables from the gardens in a variety of recipes including couscous and snap pea salad, lentil salad with feta, Asian noodle soup, pesto pasta, vegetable fried rice, cold cucumber salad, and fall minestrone soup.
In the spring of 2025, HCSL brought seeds and starter plants from the gardens to the KIVA classroom to talk about the different kinds of vegetables and herbs that are grown in Jacona. In the fall, HCSL brought fresh tomatoes, garlic and onions to the classroom to make pico de gallo for a chips-and-salsa party.
HCSL’s 2025 programs were attended by 119 participants including 60 adults with a developmental disability and 59 caregivers and volunteers. Average attendance at HCSL’s programs increased to 25 participants per program up from 20 participants in 2024. In addition, 71% of the participants attended more than one program this year, demonstrating how much they enjoyed what HCSL offered in 2025. Clients from All Individuals First in Los Alamos, as well as Santa Fe-based agencies Visions Case Management and Rise Speech and Language Therapy attended HCSL’s 2025 programs.
HCSL was thrilled to begin selling its vegetables, starter plants, dried and fresh herbs, flower bouquets and more at the Pojoaque Farmers’ Market two Wednesdays per month from June through August. Proceeds from the farm stand helped support HCSL’s Day Programs and the upkeep of its property in Jacona.