In Villanueva, New Mexico, the El Valle Community Center sits at the heart of the community.
For nearly three decades, the former school building has served as a gathering place, food distribution site, community resource hub, and a reminder of what can happen when people come together to invest in their neighbors.
Thanks to a combination of local leadership, volunteer dedication, federal investment, and community partnerships, the center is preparing for its next chapter.
For Patricia Gallegos, Founder, that journey began long before the building became a community center. As an adult Gallegos returned to Villanueva, where her family’s roots stretch back generations. “My parents, great and great great grandparents were from Villanueva. As a child I spent every summer swimming in the Pecos river and playing with cousins up and down the valley,” she says. “When I came back, I continued my career in social work and public service with the State of New Mexico. On most days on my way to my parents’ home I passed this abandoned school.”
The building sparked an idea.
While pursuing her master’s degree in social work, Gallegos wrote her thesis on transforming an abandoned school into a community center. A few years later, she turned that vision into reality. In 1998, with support from a foundation, volunteers, and countless community members, the El Valle Community Center officially opened its doors with a non-profit status.
“We started with holiday events and programs for kids,” Gallegos recalls. “But the vision was always for it to support the community and to be community-run. Everything we’re doing now is what the dream was.” Over the years, the center became exactly that: a place where neighbors could gather, access resources, and support one another.
Meeting Community Needs
In a rural area where resources can be limited and distances between services are often significant, the center has become much more than a building. “We’ve had days where 300 people came through for the Food Pantry,” says Gallegos. “The need is there.”
The challenges facing the region are familiar to many rural communities. Economic opportunities can be limited. Access to services often requires long drives. The recent closure of the local general store only deepened concerns about food access. “If we don’t take care of ourselves, no one will,” Gallegos says. That belief continues to guide the center’s work today.
A New Generation of Leadership
One of the people helping carry that vision forward is Jason Gonzalez, a farmer, entrepreneur, and board member of the community center. After years working in grocery retail management, Gonzalez left the industry to pursue farming full-time. Today, he and his wife operate Bamboo Farms at Gonzales Ranch near Villanueva and work to strengthen local food systems across northern New Mexico.
Through his organization, Nuevo Mexico Fresco, Gonzalez launched the Tesoros del Valle Farmers Market, which operates at the community center and creates opportunities for local growers to sell their products. “It’s given more people a reason to farm and grow on their land,” Gonzalez says. “They see an outlet now.”
His long-term vision extends beyond a weekly market.
Gonzalez hopes to develop a regional food hub that would provide storage, processing, and distribution opportunities for local producers while increasing access to healthy food for residents. The work became even more urgent after the closure of the Villanueva General Store, which had served the community for more than 50 years. “If you want fresh produce now, you’re driving 45 minutes to Las Vegas or an hour to Santa Fe,” he says.
Together, Gonzalez and other community leaders see the center as a key part of addressing those challenges through food security initiatives, emergency preparedness planning, agricultural development, and expanded community services.
Investing in the Future
While the community center has served residents of the historic San Miguel del Bado land grant communities for decades, maintaining an aging building has often required creative problem-solving and volunteer labor. “We’ve been patching the roof for years,” Gallegos says. “Making improvements here and there as we could.”
That changed in 2024 when Congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernández selected the project for federal funding to support critical improvements to the facility. The funding came with a matching requirement that initially seemed out of reach.
The center’s board and supporters began raising funds piece by piece. Then, with support from Pattern Energy and other partners, th
e remaining gap was closed, unlocking more than half a million dollars in federal investment for the project. The improvements will address long-standing infrastructure needs, including roofing, plumbing, electrical systems, windows, and code compliance upgrades. “We could not have made this possible without Pattern Energy. The staff at Pattern have been exceptionally supportive and genuinely interested in strengthening our community.”
For community leaders, the impact goes far beyond the building itself.
“This remodel means so much more than construction,” says Gallegos. “It means we can continue providing the services people need and create new opportunities for the future.”
A Community Anchor
As construction plans move forward, the vision for El Valle Community Center continues to grow. Future plans include expanded food security programs, community gathering spaces, emergency preparedness resources, agricultural initiatives, and increased capacity to serve residents throughout the region.
For both Gallegos and Gonzalez, the center represents something larger than any one project or improvement. It’s proof that rural communities can create solutions for themselves when they have the resources and support to do so. “The Center has always belonged to the community,” says Gallegos. “People come here because it’s a way to make a difference and the feeling of ownership and self determination.”
And thanks to decades of dedication and a growing network of partners, the El Valle Community Center in Villanueva is positioned to serve the Valley for generations to come.