DreamTree Project is leading a collaborative AmeriCorps program in the Taos area, which began in September 2020. The Enchanted Circle Corps (ECC) is a partnership among local organizations that provide supportive services.

The goal of this collaboration is to spread the word about a variety of available services and resources for people in Taos County, including at-risk youth shelter and support, agricultural conservation, college preparedness for high school students and adults, as well as other avenues.

There are local partner programs involved in the ECC, including DreamTree Project. DTP will provide oversight to a Program Coordinator who will run the program and coordinate and support the local AmeriCorps Members and their respective Taos Host Sites.

Enchanted Circle Corps Host Sites:
∙DreamTree Project
∙NEST (Local crisis shelter for adults)
∙Bridges
∙Not Forgotten Outreach
∙Rocky Mountain Youth Corps
∙Taos Center for the Arts
∙Taos Whole Community Health
∙Twirl
∙Youth Heartline

Recruitment is open!

Interviews with Alumni Members:

• Big Brothers Big Sisters - Interview with Jeff

• Heart of Taos - Interview with Mark

• Taos Education & Career Center - Interview with Celestino

• Village of Taos Ski Valley - Interview with Scotney

• Youth Heartline - Interview with Amy

• Bridges Project for Education - Interview with Aimee Lynn

• DreamTree Project - Interview with Hank

• Enos Garcia Nurturing Center - Interview with Chris

• Rocky Mountain Youth Corps - Interview with Jessie

• Taos Education & Career Center at UNM Taos - Interview with Julianna

• Taos Elders & Neighbors Together - Interview with David

• Taos Land Trust - Interview with Alejandro

• Taos Milagro Rotary - Interview with Veronica

• Taos Municipal Schools - Interview with Emily

Days of Service

MLK Day | Cesar Chavez Day | Summer Service Day

On Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, the Enchanted Circle Corps (ECC) participated in its first annual AmeriCorps National Day of Service for the year. Both years, ECC Members held a food drive at Albertsons Market in Taos and collected approximately $3000 worth of food from Taos community members. The donations filled a pickup truck bed and were immediately shared with St. James Food Pantry to be distributed locally. It was truly inspiring to see how Taos comes out to support its neighbors, family, and friends in need! The event was also a day of fun and an opportunity to connect with each other and the Taos community.

For Cesar Chavez Day, ECC worked alongside Rocky Mountain Youth Corps - New Mexico and Growing Community Now, gardening at Taos High School. ECC members raked piles of weeds, picked up trash, weeded and thinned the greenhouse, planted seeds, painted the bottom of the growdome, shoveled and moved gravel and created a walking path, and more. It is incredible to see such an amazing project happening at Taos High School and other local schools. Not only are students being fed organic vegetables at lunch and doing food tastings, but they’re also learning how to grow their own food.

ECC Members met at The Shared Table Food Pantry in El Prado and worked on a variety of maintenance and beautification projects. To follow Covid safe practices, three time slots were used throughout the day. Rocky Mountain Youth Corps started the day and Enchanted Circle Corps finished. It was amazing to see the transformation that took place during those hours and to help a great cause helping people in the Northern New Mexico area.

The Enchanted Circle Corps's first year of service wrapped up with a final Day of Service in Pilar, NM with a clean up project of the Rio Grande, Slide Trail, and surrounding landscape. Fortunately it was during a time when we were able to enjoy the day without masks and eat lunch and enjoy each other's smiling faces.