As you may have already heard, the City of Santa Fe has ended the lease for Interfaith Community Shelter, also known as Pete’s Place, on Cerrillos Road. A new company, Urban Alchemy, will occupy that space starting August 1st to operate the shelter and provide street outreach.

First Presbyterian Church was a founder of the Interfaith Community and will continue to support our unhoused friends and neighbors. While Urban Alchemy does not use volunteers in their operating model to provide support, we at FPC can keep open to ways of supporting the unhoused, not only during this transition time, but for as long as necessary.

There are many open questions about the future path of Interfaith, the expectations of Urban Alchemy and of course, the impact on our unhoused community members. The Interfaith Board is actively working on a way to continue forward with the mission set forth by faith leaders over 16 years ago. They are moving ahead on securing a new space to build a Resource Opportunity Center (The ROCk) and to engage the 2,000+ Santa Fean volunteers.

The Missions and Social Justice Committee is also continuing to monitor ways to partner with Urban Alchemy, Interfaith and other support organizations to address the needs of our most vulnerable community and will keep the congregation informed on ways in which to help. If you have any questions, or suggestions, please contact Gian Schauer or Bruce Goslin.