How New Mexico's community action agencies help — and where to find yours
Community action agencies are the nonprofits New Mexico relies on to help low-income households through a crisis — a rent shortfall, a lack of food, a utility shutoff — and to offer longer-term programs that build toward stability. This page is a plain-English guide to how that system works in this state: what the agencies are, what help they may offer, which programs run through the state government instead, and where to find the one responsible for your area.
Each agency is independent, with its own board, its own region, and a program list shaped by local needs and whatever funding it holds that year. Their core operating money is the federal Community Services Block Grant (CSBG), which the New Mexico Health Care Authority passes down to the agencies. Because they answer to their communities rather than a central office, no two offer identical services — the help available in the southeast differs from what's offered in the Four Corners or along the border.
One thing to understand before you call: in this state, the community action agency is usually not where you apply for LIHEAP energy bill assistance or free home weatherization. New Mexico runs both through state programs, described further down this page. The agencies here concentrate on other kinds of help — emergency assistance, food, early childhood programs, senior services, and family financial programs — and some can still assist with a utility bill through separate funds.
Emergency assistance
Most agencies set aside CSBG money for households in an immediate crisis. Depending on where you live, that may mean help toward rent or a mortgage payment, a utility bill, food, or in some areas prescription costs. These funds are limited and can run out before the year ends; when that happens, staff can usually point to other local options.
Expect to document the situation. Photo identification, proof of household income, and paperwork showing the emergency — an eviction notice, a disconnect notice — are commonly required. Calling first to ask whether funds are available, and what to bring, saves a wasted trip.
Food
Food help takes several forms across the network. Some agencies run pantries or distribute USDA commodity boxes through The Emergency Food Assistance Program; some provide monthly food boxes for income-qualified seniors through the Commodity Supplemental Food Program; others help residents complete SNAP applications.
In some areas, agencies partner with larger nonprofits to run food pantries and other hunger programs — Roadrunner Food Bank, the state's largest food bank network, is a frequent partner. If food is the immediate need and your agency can't help directly, staff generally know which nearby pantry can — the New Mexico food banks page lists more options around the state.
Head Start and child care
Head Start and Early Head Start are among the most common programs in New Mexico's community action network. They provide free early education, meals, health screenings, and family support for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers in income-qualified households, and applications are typically accepted year-round. Some agencies also sponsor the Child and Adult Care Food Program, which reimburses home child care providers for serving nutritious meals, or operate their own low-cost preschools. A parent with a child under five can ask the local agency what it runs and where.
Help for seniors
In parts of New Mexico, agencies aim to support older adults with services such as home-delivered meals, rides to senior centers, light housekeeping, companionship programs, and adult day or respite care that gives family caregivers a safe option during working hours. What's offered varies widely by region. A senior — or someone caring for one — can ask the local agency what's currently available, even without a crisis.
Savings, family, and work programs
Beyond emergency help, agencies may offer programs meant to move a household forward. Where offered, matched-savings (see the NHPB guide to Individual Development Accounts) pair a family's own deposits with grant money toward a first home, education, or a small business, usually alongside required financial classes.
Other examples found in the network include benefits screening, where staff review what public assistance a household may qualify for and help with the applications; financial and computer literacy classes; home-visiting support for parents of young children; housing navigators who work directly with landlords; and job training for adults and young people. No single agency offers all of this. The realistic approach is to describe your situation and ask what the agency can do — and what it would suggest if it can't.
One example found in New Mexico is Thriving Families benefits screening, where staff review what assistance a household may qualify for and help with the applications. Availability depends on funding and location — the directory below notes where it has been offered.
Energy bills, LIHEAP, and weatherization — the New Mexico setup
LIHEAP, the federal program that helps pay heating and cooling bills, is run by the state here. Applications go through a Health Care Authority Income Support Division field office or the YesNM portal at https://yes.nm.gov/. If your power or gas is already off, a disconnect notice has arrived, or you're nearly out of propane or wood, say so when you apply — crisis cases move on a faster track. The state's LIHEAP information line is (800) 283-4465, and see the New Mexico LIHEAP page on this site for a more in-depth guide.
Free weatherization — insulation, air sealing, heating system repair or replacement, and similar upgrades at no cost to qualifying households — is also state-administered, through the NM Energy$mart program under Housing New Mexico. Their site, https://housingnm.org/, lists the provider assigned to each area.
Community action agencies still play a role with energy bills. Some take applications for HEAT New Mexico, a New Mexico Gas Company assistance fund; some help customers apply to the [PNM Good Neighbor Fund](link to PNM assistance page); and some can put CSBG crisis money toward a bill when a shutoff is close. Ask your agency which of these it participates in.
If you live on tribal land
Tribes and pueblos receive Community Services Block Grant funding directly from the federal government, separate from the state's network. The Navajo Nation, for one, operates its own CSBG emergency assistance program through its Division of Child and Family Services. Residents of tribal lands can contact their tribal social services office about tribal programs — and every tribal community also sits within a county covered by an agency listed below.
Finding and contacting the agency for your county
Every county falls under one of the state-designated agencies. The official statewide list — maintained by the Health Care Authority, which administers CSBG — shows each agency with its coverage area: https://www.hca.nm.gov/lookingforinformation/community_assistance_and_community_services_block_grant/. The agencies' membership association, the New Mexico Association of Community Partners, offers a county-by-county lookup at https://nmacp.org/, and dialing 2-1-1 from anywhere in the state reaches operators who can name your agency along with other nearby resources.
The directory below was checked against the state list and each agency's own website. Contact details do change — a phone call before visiting confirms the office is open, whether an appointment is needed, and whether the program you're after currently has funding.
New Mexico community action agency directory
The state currently designates six agencies, and together their territories cover all 33 counties
Community Action Agency of Southern New Mexico (CAASNM)
3880 Foothills Road, Suite A, Las Cruces, NM 88011
Phone: (575) 527-8799 | Web: https://www.caasnm.org/
Counties: Do�a Ana, Grant, Hidalgo, Luna, Sierra
Based in Las Cruces, CAASNM works across the border-region counties. Its programs have included a matched-savings IDA program, benefits screening through Thriving Families, and home visiting for parents of young children. Other programs include housing stability navigators, financial and computer literacy classes, small business development help, the Child and Adult Care Food Program, and assistance obtaining fans, evaporative coolers, air conditioners, or heaters for qualifying households. Services can be requested by phone or through the portal on its website.
Eastern Plains Community Action Agency (EPCAA)
Main/CSBG office: 210 W. Center St. (P.O. Box 1244), Tucumcari, NM 88401
Phone: (575) 461-1914 | Web: https://www.epcaa.org/
Other CSBG offices: Clovis — 1200 Thornton St., Suite D, (575) 769-1094, by appointment; Portales — 1034 Community Way, Room 1, (575) 356-6038
Counties (state designation): Curry, De Baca, Guadalupe, Harding, Quay, Roosevelt, Union
EPCAA serves the farming and ranching communities of the eastern plains. Its programs have included Head Start and Early Head Start, CSBG emergency help with food and rent or mortgage costs, the Child and Adult Care Food Program, and HEAT New Mexico gas bill applications at the Tucumcari office.
Economic Council Helping Others, Inc. (ECHO)
1921 E. Murray Drive, Farmington, NM 87401
Phone: (505) 325-7466 | Web: https://echoinc.org/
County: San Juan
ECHO has served San Juan County since 1967, anchored by a food bank that supplies families and partner pantries around the Four Corners. It also distributes monthly Commodity Supplemental Food Program boxes to seniors 60 and older, helps residents apply for SNAP, offers emergency assistance as funding allows, and runs an affordable preschool in Aztec.
HELP New Mexico, Inc. (HELPNM)
5101 Copper Ave NE, Albuquerque, NM 87108
Phone: (505) 265-3717 | Web: https://www.cplcnm.org/
Counties (CSBG): Bernalillo, Colfax, Los Alamos, Mora, Rio Arriba, Sandoval, San Miguel, Santa Fe, Taos, Torrance
Founded in 1965 as the Home Education Livelihood Program serving farmworker families, HELPNM holds the largest CSBG territory in the state, reaching from Albuquerque through Santa Fe to the Colorado line. Its work has centered on early childhood education, job training for adults and young people, housing support, food assistance, and family services, with child care and workforce programs that extend into counties beyond its CSBG territory.
Mid-West New Mexico Community Action Program (MWNMCAP)
Main administrative office: 549 Don Pasqual Rd. NW, Los Lunas, NM 87031
Phone: (505) 866-0466 | Web: https://www.ourkidzrock.com/
CSBG intake offices: Los Lunas — (505) 865-9697; Grants — 1150 Elm St., (505) 357-1768; Gallup — 310 E. Maloney Ave., (505) 357-1747; Socorro — 904 Spring St., (575) 835-0899
Counties: Catron, Cibola, McKinley, Socorro, Valencia
Mid-West covers west-central New Mexico, with Head Start and Early Head Start centers in its four office communities and CSBG offices that can take emergency rent and utility applications in person or online. It has operated food pantries in Valencia and Socorro counties with Roadrunner Food Bank, and helps clients access the PNM Good Neighbor Fund and HEAT New Mexico. Catron County is served on a traveling basis from the Socorro office.
Southeast New Mexico Community Action Corporation (SNMCAC)
1915 San Jose Boulevard, Carlsbad, NM 88220
Phone: (575) 887-3939 | Web: https://www.snmcac.com/
Counties: Chaves, Eddy, Lea, Lincoln, Otero
SNMCAC has operated in southeastern New Mexico since 1965. Alongside Head Start, much of its effort goes to older residents — home-delivered meals, transportation to senior centers, housekeeping help, the Foster Grandparent program, and adult day and respite care in Carlsbad and Artesia. Its community services program may help with rent or mortgage, utility, or prescription costs when CSBG funding is available.
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