Las Cumbres Developmental Specialist Sara Bulthuis works with young children. Courtesy photo

By KIRSTEN LASKEY
Los Alamos Daily Post
kirsten@ladailypost.com

For more than 50 years, Las Cumbres Community Services has served Los Alamos children and adults. But now, the nonprofit organization operates in a physical location right in town.

Las Cumbres moved to 1060 Nugget Street a little more than a year ago, Los Alamos Office Manager and Developmental Specialist and Service Coordinator Abbie Nelson said.

She explained the organization has its main office in Española but to have a satellite office in Los Alamos is exciting not only for the staff but for local families, too.

“We got a grant from the County,” Nelson said. “It allowed us to provide more services in Los Alamos and open up an office here in Los Alamos, which has been amazing.”

The office building, which is housed in the former Children’s Montessori Preschool of Los Alamos, also features classroom space and a site for a future playground. The equipment is all stacked and ready to be installed, it just needs approval from the state.

Some of the programs offered in Los Alamos include a drop-in playgroup, which is run by an art therapist and a development specialist, Nelson said. She added it provides parents access to professionals and fun activities for their children to help them develop their fine motor, gross motor, sensory and speech skills. Plus, families have access to occupational therapists, physical therapists, speech therapists and developmental specialists, depending on who is running the event that week.

There is a program called Circle of Security (COS), which addresses building relationships between parents and children. Also, there is Dialectic Behavior Therapy to support families that are dealing with emotional changes in life

Santuario del Corazòn is a program that offers bilingual/bicultural therapists to support immigrant families in Northern New Mexico.

Las Cumbres offers a fatherhood program, which uses a guided program to support fathers in developing and expanding their skills as well as an Autism Support for families with neurodivergent children.

There also is a lending library, which loans out different therapeutic items such as noise cancelling headphones and weighted vests.

While Nelson said the target group is children 0-8; Las Cumbres also offers services specifically for adults. For instance, there is Peach House, on Peach Street, which is for adults with special needs.

Nelson further pointed out that Las Cumbres partners with various other organizations. For instance, she said they partner with JJAB Los Alamos to offer a behavioral health program. Las Cumbres also collaborates with the Los Alamos County Library System to offer Music and Movement programs. They are also involved with Los Alamos Public Schools, too.

These partnerships are important, Nelson said.

“Collaboration is key with all these kinds of services,” she said. “The different things we target in our instruction, and we try to do our best to help the families in town.”

Plus, Las Cumbres and these other organizations offer a support system for parents of children with special needs. This is something Nelson said she can personally attest is invaluable.

“Personally, as a … parent, having a special needs child is very isolating and having a support system is invaluable,” she said. “The more information you have, the more you know to help your children, the better … because knowledge is power.”

Also, “the earlier you identify concerns or needs, the better,” Nelson added.

Being a parent is tough, Nelson said. So, having professionals to turn to and getting to know other parents who are dealing with similar issues is very helpful.

“Just watching these programs develop is so satisfying to me because they are what I wished for when my children were younger,” she said.

Having children with special needs isn’t a rarity, Nelson pointed out. She pointed out there is a high population of children on Autism Spectrum, and she emphasized that Las Cumbres is here to help them.

In fact, Nelson said it is their pleasure.

“I love Los Alamos and I love living here, I love working here, I love serving the community,” she said.

For more information on Las Cumbres, visit www.lascumbres-nm.org/los-alamos.