Not Forgotten Outreach

Not Forgotten Outreach, Inc accomplishments fy2022-2023 we graduated 4 participants in the vetcorps program. We started a goat program consisting of four well bred goats. The vetcorps built a barn to house these goats. Nfo acquired funds from the taos community foundation to start this program. Nfo hosted a successful ski week in january after being mostly on hiatus for close to three years. Nfo hosted a chamber of commerce mixer to increase awareness of the program and a veterans day memorial clean up that was well attended. The majority of the participants were veterans. Nfo hosted a national recording artist, bob schneider, to celebrate 10 years of serving veterans and raise awareness of the organization. Nfo increased its behavioral health offering to include equine therapy and art in addition to yoga and a licensed therapist. The art programs have been very successful with excellent attendance. Vetcorps members, for example, made a quilt out of the nfo llama's fur. Nfo co-hosted a stand down for homeless veterans in september and the organization has paired with the university of new mexico to host workshops. So far the workshops have included beekeeping, composting and canning and have been well attended. As a result of this partnership, nfo has been able to bill unm through the rare grant and has, to date, received over seven thousand dollars. With the assistance of us fish and wildlife, nfo has expanded northward to reclaim and improve the weed-infested field. On september 9th, nfo hosted a native species planting day in the center of the property to encourage the native species to compete with the invasive weeds. Nfo has also mitigated the invasive weeds through mowing and silage tarps and the summer of 2023 was the first time nfo was Not the cause of further spreading of thistle and teasel within the community. Nfo partnered with taos soil and water to have a soil workshop for vetcorps members. Nfo also hosted amigos bravos for a water workshop. The testing of the nfo well revealed that the water quality has vastly improved. Nfo has maintained its role on the steering committee with together with veterans, a rural suicide prevention effort. Nfo has facilitated qpr trainings in mental health first aid and intends to facilitate more swot meetings regarding twv. Our partnership with together with veterans inspired them to donate 1000 to the military appreciation ski week. Nfo had a second successful year with its community garden. While some participants dropped off through the summer for various reasons, the spring saw every plot spoken for. The community garden is an integral element of nfos mission of reintegrating veterans with society and this element continued this summer. Nfo began the creation of a food forest with mike musialowski of the taos land trust. Last fall nfo hosted a planting day and workshop and planted four pear and four apple trees. Vetcorps members were a part of every workshop and event mentioned above and learned how to plan and run events in addition to the material taught at the workshops. There are many more accomplishments to list, but perhaps the most important one is that nfo has served as a safe and friendly place for at least four veterans who needed advocacy. While this is Not an official part of the agvets/vetcorps program, it is these off script opportunities to help veterans reestablish their footholds that nfo is particularly proud of.