Mission
Lemonade Living is a lifestyle healing organization whose mission is to enrich and empower the lives of young adults with developmental disabilities. We believe comprehensive care, offering a full spectrum of services is vital to achieving lifelong happiness for our special families. Making life sweet!
Purpose
Lemonade Living is organized exclusively for educational and charitable purposes. We serve adults with special needs by partnering with other local organizations to offer enriching activities and events, therapy services, job skills training and eventually long-term residential living. We make as accessible as possible any therapies and services needed by our developmental disabilities and special needs community.
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When a developmentally disabled or special needs young adult ages out of high school, parents may wonder, "What next?!" Local families have been faced with the choice of leaving Los Alamos for services or letting their loved ones sit at home and age. Many families have left to find services elsewhere. We want to change that. Lemonade Living wants to make life sweet here in Los Alamos.
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Inspired by Robyn Collom's LAHS Living Skills program, Lemonade Living was founded with the dream of a farm with therapy services that would blend into the community and provide life enrichment activities through arts and music, academic and job skills development, and social activities throughout the community.
About Us
In 2026, we continue to offer recreational and educational programs with nonprofit partners such as the Los Alamos Sheriff's Posse, Los Alamos Family YMCA's YESCorp and Los Alamos High School's NJROTC. Programs include activities with horses, goats and chickens. We offer lessons in horsemanship, horseback riding, homesteading, homestead cabin construction, dairy milk operations, fiber arts, natural resources, water, soil, air, crops and the relationship to homesteading on the Pajarito Plateau, both historically and today. The farm program has grown to become Homestead Ranch School & The Gifted Horse. With the help and inspiration of members from the Los Alamos Historical Society and History Museum, and a partnership with the New Mexico Commission for the Blind, our homestead program now includes docent training for individuals with developmental disabilities. These activities are offered through use of the Los Alamos Sheriff’s Posse Lodge and the Historic Grant and Lujan Homestead Cabins. Each component of this homestead history program offers naturally therapeutic, livestock interaction and educational opportunities for our community. After a three year application process, started in 2023, Lemonade Living's Summer Camps and Horseback Riding Lessons at North Mesa Stables are now operated under a Concessionaire Agreement with Los Alamos County and approved by the US Department of the Interior and the National Park Service.
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In 2026, we also still operate our Farm to Kitchen Job Training and Workplace Experience Program. Our kitchen space is still the “shop”, Rose Chocolatier, where Living Skills students from Los Alamos High School, the New Mexico Commission for the Blind and other adults with developmental disabilities have been able to learn meaningful job and life skills, and now participate in field trips around Northern New Mexico. The program is now called Homestead Kitchen Camp - Lifestyle Enrichment Group.
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We always need help with all of our programming. Sustaining and recurring donations are greatly appreciated. Program revenue and current grant awards do not fully cover the budget, as our programs seem to grow faster than our budget. Any amounts raised will work to grow the entire Lemonade Living project, including Rose Chocolatier upgrades and our residential campus, Homestead Ranch House.
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The reactivation of the homestead cabin fund is meant to cover urgent and exciting next steps at the Lujan Cabin. We have immediate need and upgrade expenses, crucial to moving forward with opening the cabin to more events! We are very excited!
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Founding Board
Founder and President Melissa Arias, Vice President Martha Lyles, Treasurer Lisa Reader, Secretary Laura Tietjen and Robyn Collom were the founding board of directors for Lemonade Living.
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Lisa Reader has been active in the disability community since moving to Los Alamos in 1994. She served on several Boards over the years including the Los Alamos Stable Owners Association, the Los Alamos Pony Club, and two terms on the Los Alamos County Parks and Recreation Board. She was also a 4-H leader, and active in the local equestrian community. In her spare time, she drives a school bus for the Los Alamos Public Schools, and supports husband Garth at his ultra races. Most importantly, she is a wife and mother. Twins Ashley and Lindsey, and daughter Megan all grew up in Los Alamos. Ashley is a wheelchair user, and Lisa looked forward to advocating for and developing and supporting social and recreational opportunities and resources for Los Alamos County residents with disabilities.
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Laura Tietjen, a local residential designer, is a "mountain" mom with two kiddos, a crazy chicken lady and owner of a fierce coyote combat fighting Rhodesian ridgeback. She grew up in Los Alamos, moved to east coast and west coast but came back to the "Land of Entrapment." Her duties on the board involved all "techie" stuff including managing online share files, marketing, graphics, meeting minutes, and website design, development and administration.
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Robyn Collom is a Los Alamos County high school teacher with over 25 years experience working with adults with disabilities, with their families and with community employers. She brings her expertise in special needs education and transition planning to Lemonade Living. Lemonade Living was inspired by her Living Skills program.
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