Home Care In Columbus, NM

Pastor Hutchins moves program to private property

COLUMBUS, N.M. – A monthly charitable food distribution program is moving itself off of government property, effective immediately.

On the second Wednesday morning of every month, volunteers line up to unload 12,000 pounds of food when a truck arrives from the Roadrunner Food Bank of New Mexico. Volunteers then organize the food to be distributed to up to 225 families.

The program is sponsored by the Episcopal Diocese of the Rio Grande and organized locally by Sue Hutchins, Vicar of St. Luke's Church in Deming and also serving the church's Borderland Ministries in Columbus.

For two years, the mobile food pantry has been held at the former Columbus Elementary School site on North Boundary Avenue, in a facility now owned by the Village of Columbus.

Additionally, Diana Skinner, co-proprietor of the Los Milagros Hotel and a volunteer at the food pantry, said she brings donations to four families in Palomas, Mexico, with the permission of the diocese.

Starting in June the pantry will move onto private property adjacent to Skinner's hotel.

After a conflict with a former volunteer led to a visit by Mayor Esequiel Salas in May, Hutchins said she realized she had to move the program. "It's done; we're done," she said in an interview on Wednesday.

In June, the food will be distributed on the lot next to the Los Milagros Hotel, at Taft and Lima streets, with plans eventually to move onto property owned by the diocese.

Tensions erupted at a village council meeting on May 16, when Columbus resident Kevin Money presented a four-page written complaint to the mayor and trustees alleging Hutchins had improperly dismissed him as a volunteer and denied him service as a recipient of food from the food bank.

Money's complaint and his verbal presentation also leveled allegations at several other members of the community related to conflicts at the community center and the community garden. After residents Gordon Taylor and Don Farber (a former trustee) engaged Money in angry rebuttals before trustees, the council intervened to move the evening's agenda along and study Money's written complaint.

Money had also risen during a public comment period at the March 21 council meeting to voice concerns about the program.

Hutchins said that in March, she had confronted Money - who was both a volunteer and recipient of food - about hoarding extra food. She also confirmed, as Money had stated in his complaint, that in April she told him he would not be needed as a volunteer but could receive food.

She said that Money then became angry, arguing with her and photographing cars in which boxes of food were loaded to be delivered to people unable to travel into the village.

"I have never refused service to anybody," Hutchins said, but after that interaction with Money, when the May 9 distribution came, she told him he would not be served anymore. At that point, Money placed a phone call and minutes later, Mayor Esequiel Salas arrived to inquire about the situation.

Hutchins said Mayor Salas argued that the food pantry could not deny food to anyone if the program was on village property, and she stated her disagreement with that position. After arguing for several minutes, she said Salas and Money both left.

Although she had not heard from Mayor Salas since then, after that argument and hearing about Money's presentation to the council, she said she felt it was time to move the program off of government property.

Skinner, the wife of former mayor Philip Skinner (whom Salas defeated in the March municipal election), facilitated the move to the lot next to the Skinners' hotel until the church-owned property is ready to house the program. The first distribution at that location will be June 13.

Mayor Salas did not respond to a press query for this story.

A spokesperson for the Roadrunner Food Bank would not confirm or deny that the organization was investigating a complaint into the Columbus food pantry, stating, "It is important to maintain the confidentiality of clients and our partner distribution sites."

Algernon D'Ammassa can be reached at 575-546-2611 (ext. 2608) or [email protected].

THE SCENT OF SWEET SAGE rises on a spring breeze as the sound of hooves approaches the tiny border town of Columbus, in southwestern New Mexico. Hundreds of Mexican cabalgantes (horseback riders or cowboys) have ridden over 300 miles in 12 days, across Chihuahua to Puerto Palomas de Villa, where American riders join them for the Cabalgata Binacional’s last three miles into town.

At NM 9 and NM 11 in Columbus, military veterans, motorcyclists, grandparents and children in their Western best, and regular folk snapping smartphone photos greet the procession of cowboys, who proudly carry the flags of their states and countries, in this centerpiece of the Festival de Amistad.

Celebrating its 25th anniversary March 9–11, the three-day event promotes peace and unity among those who live along the border and recognizes their complex shared history. It commemorates the 1916 predawn raid on Columbus by Mexican revolutionary Francisco “Pancho” Villa and 400 of his men. In retaliation, General John Pershing led U.S. forces—up to 10,000 soldiers, cars, and trucks, plus a squadron of Curtiss JN-3 “Jenny” biplanes—on the Punitive Expedition, an 11-month campaign to capture Villa and prevent further raids.

“The expedition did not capture Pancho Villa,” says Ric Lambart, president of the First Aero Squadron Foundation, in Columbus. “But the field tactics gained in the borderlands would be essential to helping American troops win World War I.”

These days, the Festival de Amistad begins on Thursday with a memorial lecture by Central New Mexico Community College history professor Brandon Morgan at the Columbus Railroad Depot Museum. Regional cowboys begin to arrive and set up camp on Friday evening in anticipation of the next day’s friendship ride, parade, and fiesta, which features dancing, music, and historic re-enactors. “Today, the two sister border communities of Columbus and Palomas, Mexico, relate only as good neighbors,” says Lambart.

In addition, Pancho Villa State Park hosts its Camp Furlong Days, with lectures and other activities on both Friday and Saturday. Be sure to check out the Jenny airplane and 1916 Dodge touring car identical to the one used by Pershing, advances which helped usher in the era of the “mechanized cavalry.”

“It isn’t only about the past,” adds Norma Gomez, event organizer with the Columbus Chamber of Commerce. “It’s about our future.”

Read more: Small towns along the state’s international border surround artful and tasty delights with sublime vistas—and a hint of revolutionary spirit.

BLUE BELL, Pa., Jan. 04, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Columbus Organization, the nation’s largest provider of case management services for individuals living with intellectual/developmental disabilities (IDD) and complex health concerns, today announced their recent approval by the New Mexico Department of Health as a Medicaid provider supporting two waivers. The company will provide both Case Management services through the Developmental Disabilities (DD) waiver, as well as Community Supports Coordination (CSC) services through the Supports Waiver (SW). This approval marks a significant new opportunity for Columbus and enables the company to extend its innovative, person-centered planning approach to potentially thousands of individuals in New Mexico. As a pioneer in the industry, Columbus’ multi-faceted ACCOMPLISH^® solution has revolutionized care coordination by leveraging its state-of-the-art data analytics platform, ACHIEVE Analytics^®, to drive improved outcomes for the individuals served.

Carlos Hernandez, SVP Care Coordination for Columbus, commented, “It is our mission as a Case Management Agency in New Mexico to educate, guide, assist, and monitor services and supports to individuals who are on the DD Waiver waitlist, complementing the unpaid supports that are provided to individuals. Our mission is to ensure that each individual achieves his or her own meaningful-life goals while providing the physical, mental, emotional, and social supports needed to bolster their progress.”

Case management services provided by Columbus employ the company’s person-centered methodology and foster connections to an individual’s community and available resources. Fielding a team of experienced case managers, the company will meet all State requirements for employment to ensure participants receive effective, understandable, and respectful care provided in a manner compatible with their cultural health beliefs, practices, and preferred language. Additionally, Columbus will assist Developmental Disabilities and Supports Waiver participants through all phases of their initial waiver eligibility and related enrollment activities while continuing to monitor ongoing services.

In collaboration with the New Mexico Developmental Disabilities Supports Division, Columbus has begun providing services in New Mexico’s Albuquerque Metro Region as of December 2022.

About The Columbus Organization For 38+ years, The Columbus Organization has been a national leader and pioneer in care coordination specifically for individuals living with intellectual/developmental disabilities, behavioral concerns, or complex care needs. Having served over 100,000 families, the company continues to be at the forefront of innovation, developing and implementing revolutionary outcomes-based models for early identification and holistic management of health risks among individuals with intellectual, developmental, behavioral, medical, and/or complex care needs. In addition to its team of almost 500 highly-experienced care coordinators, dedicated Quality Assurance division, and unparalleled national infrastructure, Columbus is also a recognized leader in clinical staffing and quality improvement services for organizations that serve the behavioral health community. The company delivers an unmatched depth of expertise, breadth of resources, diversity of thinking, and dedication to ensuring everyone can achieve their meaningful-life goals through transformative approaches to healthcare. For more, visit www.ColumbusOrg.com, follow @TheColumbusOrg on Twitter, like The Columbus Organization on Facebook, or follow The Columbus Organization on LinkedIn.

Expanded Coverage of the 2020 COTE Top 10 Awards appeared in the October 2020 issue of ARCHITECT.

A Land Port of Entry on the U.S.-Mexico border leverages the ecologies of the Chihuahuan Desert to create a transparent, welcoming, and sustainable environment for visitors.

What were the main design goals of the scheme? Elizabeth Chu Richter, FAIA, principal: Ports of entry are complex projects; there are a lot of moving parts. You have to be efficient and economical, and on top of that, you have the added value of sustainability, flexibility, comfort, and that welcoming presentation we want for travelers.

David Richter, FAIA, principal: The environment here is extraordinary; the natural beauty is profound. It has an incredible macro scale, where you can see for dozens of miles—and because it’s sparsely populated, there are vast areas where there’s virtually no sign of human intervention at all. But immediately at the site, it’s quite neighborly. It’s a porous border and a cross-cultural place, so we wanted architecture that is very connected to the land, and that is scaled to the pedestrian, despite the wide open spaces. There are lots of pedestrians that cross back and forth, every day.

How were sustainable strategies prioritized in this design process? Chu Richter: The Chihuahuan Desert is what binds the two countries together here. So the resources, the beauty of that land, is what we wanted to share and preserve. Because we had to create distance between the border and the processing—it’s about 500 feet—we wanted to create this opportunity to showcase the beauty of that environment. To create these park-like grounds that people go through every day and appreciate.

One of the factors about this site is the rain. You have a lack of water—it’s a desert—but you also have summer monsoons, which send an over-abundance of water and result in flooding. Managing and harvesting water are sustainable elements that we worked into this landscape.

Another is daylight, which we harvest in the port of entry building via roof monitors—an integrated modular system we designed that maximizes light capture. We tried to bring in a sense of transparency and openness.

What is the biggest lesson learned from this project? Richter: We were obviously proud that the building was certified LEED Platinum—you don’t get that without being diligent and scrupulous, without doing everything that you can to be sustainable. But it’s about more than making sure that your paint doesn’t off-gas. When we first started doing work in the desert years ago, we were struck that it’s about what’s under your feet and over your head—the earth and the sky. Sustainable design is a matter of making sure your heart and head are in the right place.

Metrics Snapshot:

ECOLOGY

Mandatory Metrics Percentage of site area designed to support vegetation: 54

Percentage of site area supporting vegetation before project began: 42

Percentage of landscaped areas covered by native or climate-appropriate plants supporting native or migratory animals: 100

For a full list of metrics, visit aia.org.

COLUMBUS, N.M. - A dozen trailers that were set up in the middle of the border village of Columbus to house workers on the southern border wall are being relocated after residents raised questions about quartering workers here in the midst of the COVID-19 public health emergency.

The trailers arrived over a week ago to a vacant lot in the village center and workers were observed last week installing skirting and building stairways to the entrances. Each trailer had four doors, and one trailer was marked "office."

The congregate trailer housing, or "man camp," was arranged by the Texas-based SLS Company, the contractor awarded $963 million in contracts for border wall construction along 72 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border, per the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

That includes 46 miles of barrier near the Columbus Port of Entry, which connects Columbus with the Mexican town of Palomas, and 25.5 miles west of Columbus.

To follow our reporting on the border region, subscribe to the Las Cruces Sun-News today.

The trailers were expected to house 20 to 60 people for up to two years as the construction of steel bollard structures on the border commenced.

After local residents questioned the camp's compliance with zoning and the wisdom of moving workers into the trailers in the midst of the COVID-19 emergency last week, Mayor Esequiel Salas stated on Tuesday that SLS would limit occupancy and delay the arrival of workers until April 16 or later.

Meanwhile, U.S. Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., an opponent of the border wall, called for a temporary halt on construction until the COVID-19 emergency passed.

Under state public health orders, non-essential businesses are closed, gatherings are limited to five people, and New Mexicans are asked to stay home except for business essential for health, safety and welfare through April.

Federal construction of the border wall, however, has continued, as President Donald Trump has maintained its importance for drug interdiction and as a curb on illegal immigration.

More: Columbus residents question 'man camp' for border wall amid coronavirus fears

After initial reports of 10 trailers assembled on the lot, two more were installed on the same lot last weekend. Early in the week, however, one of the trailers was carted away and by Thursday workers were taking apart the stairs and skirting that had already been installed on the remaining trailers.

In an email obtained by the Sun-News, Salas informed village trustees, county officials and Lt. Gov. Howie Morales that the trailers would be ready to move out of the village center by Monday.

Columbus Trustee William Johnson told the Sun-News that, according to workers at the site, six trailers were to be located south of Columbus and the other six in the Antelope Wells area in Hidalgo County.

Mayor Salas and the SLS project manager were not immediately available for comment. This story will be updated with any response.

Morales praised Salas Thursday, saying the mayor showed "courage and leadership in working the governor and the federal delegation" and asking SLS to halt work on the trailer housing.

"There was concern from community members … about individuals coming from other parts of the country and increasing the likelihood of the virus being spread," Morales said. "As of today the border community is safer as we continue to try to protect all parts of New Mexico, especially the rural areas that could be threatened like that."

Algernon D'Ammassa can be reached at 575-541-5451, [email protected] or @AlgernonWrites on Twitter.