• I have learned that a man has the right and obligation to look down at another man only when that man needs help to get up from the ground.
--Gabriel Garcia Marquez, renowned writer from Colombia, and Nobel Peace Prize winner for literature.
--Gabriel Garcia Marquez, renowned writer from Colombia, and Nobel Peace Prize winner for literature.
Interfaith Community Shelter Group P.O. Box 22653 Santa Fe, NM 87502
Your assistance makes a
Difference
An initiative of the Santa Fe, New Mexico Faith Community
Forty-Two Faith-Based and Community Groups Join in this Effort
Photo by Luis Sánchez Saturno
Copyright © 2009 The New Mexican, Inc. Reprinted with permission.
All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2009 The New Mexican, Inc. Reprinted with permission.
All rights reserved.
For the past two winters, a group that has grown to more than 1700 volunteers drawn from and with the assistance of now 42 Santa Fe faith-based and community groups has provided hot evening meals, hospitable shelter and breakfast to homeless people in our community. Our roots go back several years ago when, in recognition of the need for a winter program to provide shelter, representatives of Adelante, St. Elizabeth Shelter, Youth Shelters and the Interfaith Leadership Alliance began an ongoing dialogue that led to the establishment of a winter shelter program for homeless individuals.
Founding members of the group came together to help address the need for shelter following a particularly brutal winter in Santa Fe during which more than 25 homeless persons died from causes, including hypothermia, directly or indirectly related to homelessness. Our current chairman, vice chairman and former treasurer, as well as other members of the board and volunteers drawn from the vibrant and diverse faith communities in Santa Fe, met the challenges of establishing a shelter program that provides a safe haven and a warm place to rest for the night, with dignity and respect key elements of the initiative.
From a fairly modest but determined start, that shocking death rate three years ago was cut to zero in the last winter. It is our hope and joint prayer, regardless of religious affiliation, that we can continue to prevent homeless people within our community from freezing to death because of inadequate shelter. We offer shelter and respite, and, by treating homeless people with the compassion and concern we ourselves hope to receive, help them on their journey to overcome the issues that have prevented them from, as our chairman has said, “reaching their goals, realizing their dreams and, ultimately, moving into supportive housing.”
While we are part of the City of Santa Fe’s continuum of care for alleviating homelessness, what we do is distinct from the 30-day shelter which successfully provides shelter, counseling and supportive services leading to a transition to affordable housing. We are an emergency shelter, with the largest local capacity [up to 100 guests versus 32], open only during the winter months and there is no limit to the number of nights a person can stay from November through April.
We operate under the umbrella of the 501(c)(3) of Faith at Work, and work in collaboration with other service providers throughout the City for employment and housing support and counseling of all types as a means to ameliorate the hardships that homelessness inflicts on our fellow citizens, particularly in these difficult economic times. Faith at Work and Community Closet, an initiative of the Interfaith Leadership Alliance, are stalwart in their support efforts. We invite you to join us in our mission. If your faith community, school or organization would like to have one or more members from our Speaker’s Bureau come to tell your group about our activities, please contact us.
Founding members of the group came together to help address the need for shelter following a particularly brutal winter in Santa Fe during which more than 25 homeless persons died from causes, including hypothermia, directly or indirectly related to homelessness. Our current chairman, vice chairman and former treasurer, as well as other members of the board and volunteers drawn from the vibrant and diverse faith communities in Santa Fe, met the challenges of establishing a shelter program that provides a safe haven and a warm place to rest for the night, with dignity and respect key elements of the initiative.
From a fairly modest but determined start, that shocking death rate three years ago was cut to zero in the last winter. It is our hope and joint prayer, regardless of religious affiliation, that we can continue to prevent homeless people within our community from freezing to death because of inadequate shelter. We offer shelter and respite, and, by treating homeless people with the compassion and concern we ourselves hope to receive, help them on their journey to overcome the issues that have prevented them from, as our chairman has said, “reaching their goals, realizing their dreams and, ultimately, moving into supportive housing.”
While we are part of the City of Santa Fe’s continuum of care for alleviating homelessness, what we do is distinct from the 30-day shelter which successfully provides shelter, counseling and supportive services leading to a transition to affordable housing. We are an emergency shelter, with the largest local capacity [up to 100 guests versus 32], open only during the winter months and there is no limit to the number of nights a person can stay from November through April.
We operate under the umbrella of the 501(c)(3) of Faith at Work, and work in collaboration with other service providers throughout the City for employment and housing support and counseling of all types as a means to ameliorate the hardships that homelessness inflicts on our fellow citizens, particularly in these difficult economic times. Faith at Work and Community Closet, an initiative of the Interfaith Leadership Alliance, are stalwart in their support efforts. We invite you to join us in our mission. If your faith community, school or organization would like to have one or more members from our Speaker’s Bureau come to tell your group about our activities, please contact us.
Santa Fe's
Interfaith Community Shelter
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