Rio Grande Health Collaborative
Public Health · New Mexico
Program foundation
Childhood Measles
Vaccination Program
"Measles is preventable. In New Mexico's rural counties, too many children are not protected. Not because vaccines are hard to find, but because the systems to reach families have not kept up. We are here to close that gap."
Mission
Rio Grande Health Collaborative works with rural and frontier communities across New Mexico to increase childhood measles vaccination. We focus on places where distance, language, and a long history of underinvestment in public health have made it harder for families to access the care their children need.
Logic model
Children ages 0 to 6 in rural New Mexico
Families in Indigenous, Hispanic, and agricultural communities
Households with limited English
Children in counties below 85% vaccination coverage
Vaccination rates below 85% in 14 of 33 counties
Nearest clinic averages 47 miles away
Health information not available in community languages
Decades of underinvestment in rural public health
Mobile vaccination clinics in 6 counties
Community health worker outreach in 3 languages
School-based vaccination events
Community education with trusted local voices
Partnerships with Tribal health programs
3,200 children reached per year
48 mobile clinic days
180 community health worker visits
24 school-based vaccination events
Vaccination rates reach 92% in target counties
85% of unvaccinated children in target areas reached
No measles outbreaks in 6 target counties
Long-term: sustained measles protection across New Mexico frontier counties
Program narrative
Who we serve
Children ages zero to six in rural and frontier New Mexico, and their families. The majority live in Indigenous and Hispanic communities where the nearest health clinic is more than an hour away, where public health outreach has been inconsistent, and where health information has historically been available only in English. These are not families who are difficult to engage. They are families who have been systematically underserved by the infrastructure designed to reach them.
The problem we are addressing
Fourteen of New Mexico's 33 counties have measles vaccination rates below 85 percent. Sustaining community protection from measles requires coverage above 95 percent. The gap is structural. Rural geography limits physical access to care. Health information is rarely available in the languages communities speak. And decades of underinvestment in rural public health have produced a well-founded wariness of systems that have not consistently delivered. Each of these conditions requires a targeted response.
Our activities
We operate mobile vaccination clinics across six rural counties on a fixed rotating schedule, bringing care directly to communities rather than requiring families to travel. Each clinic is staffed by community health workers fluent in English, Spanish, and Diné Bizaad (Navajo). We partner with rural school districts to deliver vaccination events at school sites, reducing barriers for families with young children. We also work with community leaders, faith institutions, and Tribal health programs to communicate accurate health information through messengers families already know and trust. Every element of our model is designed with communities, not about them.
Short-term outcomes
- Vaccination rates in 5 of 6 target counties reached 90% or above, up from 81% at baseline
- 3,200 children vaccinated through mobile and school-based events in the program year
- 78% of caregivers reported greater confidence in vaccination safety following community health worker engagement
- No confirmed measles cases recorded in target counties during the program year
Long-term vision
A future where every child in rural New Mexico grows up fully vaccinated. Not because of any single organization, but because the systems built to protect them finally work, regardless of zip code.
Key assumptions and conditions
Vaccine supply from the state health department stays consistent
Community health worker relationships with Tribal programs are maintained over time
School district partnerships continue to allow on-site vaccination events
State public health funding for rural outreach remains available
Community leaders and trusted messengers remain engaged as partners
County health systems have capacity to sustain coverage gains after the grant period
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A note on community voice
The strongest Theories of Change are built with the communities they describe, not just about them. Consider this a starting draft. Before you finalize, share these questions with people you serve, your team members, board members, and anyone closest to the work. Let their language and framing shape the final version.