HCSL promotes the development of meaningful life skills in an inclusive community setting. 

Our Programs

In addition to offering supported, independent living opportunities, HCSL also offers a free series of Day Programs focusing on visual arts, e.g. painting, drawing, clay, printmaking, music and dance as well as cooking. These Day Programs take inspiration from the vegetable gardens, orchard and natural environment of HCSL’s property in Jacona, NM. The programs are open to adults with intellectual disabilities and their family members, caregivers and friends who live in the surrounding northern New Mexico communities.

A long-term goal is to also offer life skills and job training opportunities utilizing HCSL’s gardens, orchard and the property’s natural environment. Where appropriate, HCSL encourages parents, family members, support staff and other interested individuals to work cooperatively to help maintain the organization’s facilities and grounds and to support its programs.

If you are interested in receiving more information about HCSL’s programs, please contact us.

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Launching a New Series of Cooking Programs & Reaching a Larger Community in 2023

During the summer and fall of 2023, High Country Supported Living (HCSL) offered 16 Day Programs focusing on visual art, movement and music, including a new series of cooking programs featuring fresh vegetables, herbs and fruit from its orchard and gardens in Jacona.

Starting in late May, HCSL presented 11 nature-based, visual art, movement and dance programs. During these programs, the participants talked about birds and made felted eggs and wall hangings; played a variety of percussion instruments to different rhythms and beats; learned how dance is created by making different shapes with our bodies; played with clay to create animals and mini landscapes; learned about hawks and tortoises; and used fall leaves and pressed flowers to make holiday lanterns.

HCSL was also very excited to launch its new series of cooking programs this year. During HCSL’s cooking classes, the participants made pesto using basil and garlic from the gardens and made the pasta noodles from scratch; learned about sweet and savory foods by preparing blue corn griddle cakes with blueberry compote; made hummus and tabbouleh with vegetables from the garden; and celebrated the apple harvest by pressing cider and cooking apple sauce.

In addition, HCSL presented two programs at the “Keeping Independent Visions Alive” (KIVA) classroom. KIVA is the Santa Fe Public School’s life skills program for students with learning differences and special needs. In the first program, the KIVA students used flowers from Jacona to make spring bouquets. In the second program, HCSL board members brought tomatoes, onions and peppers from the gardens to make pico de gallo with the students and talk about the importance of eating fresh, healthy food.

HCSL’s 2023 programming events were attended by 101 individuals, including 53 young adults with an intellectual disability and 48 caregivers, peers and friends, almost doubling the number of participants in 2022. In addition, 66% of the attendees participated in more than one program this year, demonstrating how much they enjoyed what HCSL offered in 2023.

Clients from All Individuals First in Los Alamos, as well as Santa Fe-based agencies Community Options, Rainbow Therapies, and Visions Case Management attended HCSL’s 2023 programs along with friends from the Special Olympics program of the Taos Winter Sports Team and other Special Olympics teams.

Expanding our programS in 2022

Building on the successful launch of its Day Programs in 2021, HCSL presented eight programs during the summer and fall of 2022 at its property in Jacona and two events in the Santa Fe Public School’s KIVA classroom — its transition to work program for students with special needs. With these ten programs, HCSL more than doubled the number of events it offered in 2021. Fifty-seven individuals attended HCSL’s day programs, including 32 young adults with an intellectual disability and 25 caregivers, peers and friends. Through our expanded programs, HCSL more than doubled its outreach/impact with young adults with intellectual disabilities in northern New Mexico in 2022.

HCSL’s 2022 Day Programs incorporated the natural environment of its rural property in Jacona with visual art, music and movement activities that were engaging, fun and appropriate for young adults with developmental disabilities. The programs were created by visual artist, Lucy Ranney, HCSL’s new Day Programs Coordinator. Day Program activities included creating bird nesting balls; a summer solstice clay program led by visiting artist, Mary Olson; a marimba concert; a movement activity led by the Executive Director of Aspen Ballet; and learning about burrowing owls and turtles with a staff member from the New Mexico Wildlife Center in Espanola, among other projects.

HCSL also presented two programs at the KIVA classroom. In the first program, the KIVA students used flowers from Jacona to make spring bouquets. In the second program, HCSL board members brought tomatoes and chiles from the gardens in Jacona to make salsa with the students and talk about the importance of eating fresh, healthy food.

Clients from All Individuals First in Los Alamos, as well as clients from Santa Fe-based agencies Community Options, Rainbow Therapies, Visions Case Management & Consulting, and Rise Speech and Language Therapy participated in HCSL’s 2022 Day Programs.

HCSL LAUNCHES ITS DAY PROGRAMS IN 2021

2021 was an eventful year for High Country Supported Living. HCSL launched its Day Programs with an inaugural event in May and then held two additional events in July and October at our Jacona property.

During the three programming events held in Jacona, participants picked apples and cherries, learned about various fruit trees and berries, made sachets using lavender from the garden, and hunted for pumpkins. They created prayer flags and painted flower pots, which were then planted with marigolds. They make veggie pizzas using produce from HCSL’s gardens and cooked in the horno, squeezed lemons and then enjoyed fresh lemonade and created their own submarine sandwiches. They also listened to stories read by children’s author, Wendi Schuller and made music with band members from Wild Marimba.

In addition, HCSL hosted an event at Santa Fe Public School’s KIVA classroom on Sept 16th. The special education students used HCSL’s apples to make oatmeal apple cinnamon cookies and stenciled bags that they used to bring home apples and cookies.

HCSL’s four programming events were attended by 29 individuals which included 13 young adults with an intellectual disability and 16 caregivers, peers and friends.

2020 PROGRAM UPDATE

While state imposed coronavirus health restrictions precluded HCSL from launching its summer programming in 2020, HCSL was busy with other projects, like expanding its gardens and improving its facilities in Jacona, NM.

During the spring, HCSL more than doubled the size of its gardens from two to five beds, which produced tomatoes, squash, carrots, onions, basil, cilantro and a variety of greens including lettuce, chard and kale. We also cultivated a heart garden featuring vegetables that promote a healthy heart including peppers, chilies, cabbage and eggplants. And HCSL created a new orchard with forty apple, peach, pear and cherry trees and planted raspberries, blackberries, potatoes, tomatillos and beans among the rows of trees. HCSL’s intellectually disabled residents enjoyed tending the gardens, watering the beds, picking vegetables and sampling the berries. HCSL’s expanded gardens will be key to its ability to launch its gardening program in 2021.

In June, HCSL learned how to work with mud, sand and gravel to repair the traditional mud plaster on several of its buildings and walls surrounding the property. HCSL’s residents helped with this process: brushing off the old mud and wetting the walls so they were ready for the first coat of plaster. Working with an experienced adobe contractor named Dylan Sparks, we then applied the initial and final plaster coats. Maintaining the traditional mud plaster on its buildings and walls will be an on-going project for HCSL and its residents.

In the fall, HCSL worked with Dylan to build a horno (wood fired oven) in the courtyard outside the kitchen building. The beehive horno was christened on a cold night in November when we cooked a homemade vegetarian pizza and roasted a chicken. HCSL is excited to feature the horno in cooking classes that it intends to host in 2021.

It was quite a year! Our talented friend and videographer, John Romero at Mad Dog Media, produced videos of some of the 2020 goings-on at HCSL that can be viewed below.