ALAMOSA, Colo.—A recent candlelight vigil through downtown Alamosa was intended to shed light on the enormity of the problems facing people in a horrid economy.
The 80 marchers first enjoyed a meal of hamburger tostadas, rice and beans, salad and dessert cooked and served by volunteers free of charge at a homeless shelter run by La Puente, a nonprofit agency recently recognized for excellence by El Pomar Foundation.
Marchers stopped at several points along the route from the shelter to Sacred Heart Catholic Church to hear testimony from La Puente clients and volunteers.
A woman named Chris who stayed in the shelter said she had gotten a job with help from La Puente.
“I never thought I would be in this situation. (La Puente) is a wonderful place—hopefully everybody will see what they do and contribute,” she said.
“I’m going to be OK.”
Frank from New York said he had lost everything, “because of my ego. I used to own four homes and had a family, but I was down to nothing when I found La Puente.”
He said he was working a construction job and that things were looking up for him thanks to La Puente.
At the church, the marchers listened to a biblical verse from Marianne Dunn that she likened to the plight of the homeless.
“The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head,” Dunn said.
La Puente Executive Director Lance Cheslock said the agency has grown from its founding in 1982 as “the state’s first rural homeless shelter” to a multipurpose human-service agency providing thousands of free meals, a San Luis Valley-wide food bank network, services to veterans, help to families getting back on their feet when misfortune strikes, “and basically whatever we can do to provide assistance to people in need.”
Among La Puente’s services:
Emergency shelter: Providing more than 10,000 nights of shelter to more than 1,000 people a year.
Food: Preparing and serving more than 40,000 meals annually to those in need.
Veterans outreach: Providing unique services to homeless veterans and veterans in crisis.
Adelante: Providing transitional housing for families to help them become self-sufficient.
Food Bank Network: Fourteen pantries across the San Luis Valley distribute canned goods, fresh food and other commodities to thousands of people each year.
PALS: A licensed after-school and summer program for children ages 5-11.
Community assistance: Supporting more than 1,400 families annually with financial and personal crises.
Volunteer coordination: Hosting a variety of volunteers to fulfill La Puente’s mission.
Shouldering such a massive workload and operating La Puente (Spanish for the bridge) is a complicated and expensive task, Cheslock said.
“La Puente’s budget last year was $1.3 million. Given the enormity of the need, we will have to strain to keep up this year,” Cheslock said.
While totals are not in yet, Cheslock said the demand for La Puente services is greater this year than last.
“We piece together funding from private and public sources. Some services have to be paid for with cash,” he said. “But our volunteers are the heart of La Puente.”
Many volunteers come to the organization from the federal AmeriCorps program.
Eva Decker, 23, an AmeriCorps volunteer from North Carolina, served dessert to people waiting in line at the shelter.
“I applied online for AmeriCorps and La Puente sent me an email about the opportunities here,” Decker said. “I get a stipend and housing from the program.”
The Elon University graduate said she signed a yearlong commitment to work at La Puente.
“There are so many things to do. I work at the shelter, the food bank and thrift store,” Decker said.
To aid the cause, the nonprofit runs several businesses:
Milagros Coffeehouse not only serves up java and other drinks but is a community gathering spot and bulletin board for events and issues. Skyview Motel is operated by La Puente. Rainbow’s End thrift stores, one in Alamosa and another in Monte Vista, offer low-cost clothing, furniture, kitchen utensils and other goods. The Hunt Avenue Boutique has high-end secondhand goods.
Cheslock said attention to details is essential to keeping La Puente afloat.
“For instance, our gleaning project produces plenty of potatoes for the food banks and shelter meals,” he said. “After the potatoes are harvested, our volunteers are allowed to dig out and keep any potatoes we can find.”
Other tasks might not seem as high-profile but are just as important to the agency’s mission.
Georgia Parment, community education director, said every person who applies to stay at the shelter is screened for criminal violations or other information that might disqualify them from staying at La Puente.
The shelter has 45 beds but more people may stay, “like during the harvest season, when there might be 100 people sleeping here,” Parment said.
El Pomar Foundation recently gave La Puente the R.J. Montgomery Award for Excellence in Human Services for outstanding work and commitment to the community.
La Puente was nominated by Andrea Aragon, director of Pueblo County United Way.
“From the services they provide their clients and the community, to the efficient and creative ways they do business, to their outstanding donor stewardship—La Puente is an organization that is changing lives second to none,” said Andrea Aragon, director of the Pueblo County United Way.
