Sarah Elsey
The Paw Print
How much do you know about your community?
I found myself at La Puente, through AmeriCorps, after graduating from college in May 2009. My relationship with La Puente differs from the people who find themselves at La Puente at the age of 18 after being kicked out of their mom’s house with nowhere else to go, or after the cops drop them there because they have no other place to stay, or after their landlord seizes their family’s mobile home for himself, or after dealing with serious Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as a veteran making it hard to keep a job or one’s life on track. My relationship consists of teaching others the mission of La Puente and the importance of service, community, and respect.
La Puente Home was established in Alamosa in 1982 by citizens concerned about homelessness, hunger, and poverty in the San Luis Valley. Today, La Puente is a 501c 3 non-profit organization in Alamosa, providing emergency shelter, food assistance, transitional housing, self-sufficiency services, homeless prevention, community outreach services, and job training for the homeless and other community members in crisis. It is the only organization in the San Luis Valley that supplies emergency shelter services.
In order to meet the needs of the community, La Puente has developed the following programs over its 28 year history of service:
La Puente Shelter provides emergency shelter and transitional housing to community members in crisis. It also offers three free meals a day to the community, shower and laundry facilities, and hygiene products.
The Adelante program assists families who are homeless by helping them attain stability and self-sufficiency through a two-year transitional housing program.
The P.A.L.S. program, a licensed after-school and summer school program serves children, aged 5 – 11, of Adelante families, as well as referrals from the Department of Human Services. P.A.L.S. is designed to help children build confidence, obtain the tools needed to overcome past difficulties, and succeed in family, school, and life.
Outreach Services assists individuals and families in financial crisis through offering rental, utility, energy, and medical assistance.
The Food Bank Network of the San Luis Valley, including the Alamosa Food Bank and thirteen other food banks in the Valley, provides free emergency food packages to families and individuals in need. The Gleaning Program is a coordinated effort between the Food Bank Network of the San Luis Valley, local farmers, and the Alamosa Community Gardens to bring otherwise un-harvested produce left in the fields to community members and organizations in need.
Volunteer Coordination Office and the Community Education Office strive to spread the mission and purpose of La Puente throughout the SLV and surrounding areas. Each year fifteen to twenty volunteers from around the world choose to commit a year of service and at least forty hours a week to one of La Puente’s programs or enterprises. Volunteer coordination accepts individuals and groups of volunteers all year round to assist with many projects to keep La Puente running.
La Puente Enterprises is a sister nonprofit organization of La Puente Home with the purpose of providing revenue to support La Puente’s programs and services. When you support Milagros Coffee House, Rainbow’s End Thrift Stores, and Hunt Avenue Boutique, your sales are directly benefiting the homeless and hungry in the San Luis Valley.
What can you do?
Care about the 10,000 square miles that Alamosa sits in.
Care about the 35 communities within the boundaries of Alamosa, Conejos, Costilla, Mineral, Rio Grande, and Saguache counties.
Care about the 46,190 people that you share the Valley with.
Care about the 19.6% of the valley’s population that live below the poverty line.
Care about the farmers and migrant workers who provide you with many of the foods you eat every day.
Care about The Heart of La Puente and look for more articles, stories, events, and facts to come.
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