Interfaith Community Services: An Update on the Present and the Future

A Short Film.

Our Programs

SHOWERS TO GO

Our ‘Showers To Go’ programs transports a mobile hygiene unit to 3 locations each week –Healthcare for the Homeless on Cerrillos Road (Mondays), Villa Linda Park on the east side of Santa Fe Place Mall (Tuesdays), and the Salvation Army on West Alameda (Thursdays).  Between 8 am and 12 pm on these days, our guests can take a hot shower, use the toilet facilities, receive a sack lunch, and engage with a case manager to help them address their particular needs. And Interfaith is assessing ways in which additional services can be added to this program.

SENIORS MOTEL PROGRAM

Interfaith manages a Seniors Motel Program at the Days Inn on Cerrillos, where about 25 homeless seniors receive a room, dinner, and navigation services aimed at securing more permanent supportive housing.

CONSUELO’S PLACE

Interfaith serves as the fiscal agent for Consuelo’s Place, a non-congregate shelter for individuals and families that’s located on the Midtown Campus.

THE ROCk

In 2024, Interfaith came to the view that our previous shelter location at 2801 Cerrillos Road was not a sustainable long-term solution for the needs of Santa Fe’s homeless community.

Consequently, Interfaith hired Denver-based Shopworks Architecture – a firm that specializes in developing facilities using Trauma-Informed Design Principles – to conduct a needs assessment for Santa Fe over the winter of 2024-2025. In April 2025, Shopworks submitted their review to Interfaith which included recommendations for both filling identified gaps in Santa Fe’s homelessness response system, and for how a facility filling those gaps might be designed using a Trauma-Informed Design approach.

Interfaith has now hired a Santa Fe-based architectural firm to begin the conceptual design for a new Resource and Opportunity Center for our community – a facility that we call The ROCk.

The ROCk is intended to address gaps in the city’s homelessness response system – shortcomings identified in the City of Santa Fe’s Emergency Homeless Action Plan, Shopworks’ evaluation, and Interfaith’s own lived experience in operating a low-barrier shelter for 15 years – in THREE SPECIFIC WAYS:

• Firstly, The ROCk will provide more shelter capacity. There are currently about 280 emergency shelter beds in Santa Fe – a number that hasn’t changed appreciably in many years. In one fell swoop, The ROCk could increase that capacity by almost 50%. And, we are looking at a hybrid model with respect to bedding, including congregate, semi-congregate, and even some non-congregate options, choices that suit the particular needs of our homeless community.
• Secondly, The ROCk will serve as a much-needed Day Center where people’s needs can be met during daylight hours – a place where people can take showers, use the toilets, store their belongings, do their laundry, get donated clothing items, and get out of the weather and just be. Currently, such a facility does not exist in Santa Fe but it is desperately needed.
• And finally, The ROCk will serve as centralized services hub – a ‘one-stop shop’ where our partner service providers can engage people with life-stabilizing services, such as
  • Medical care
  • Substance abuse resources
  • Behavioral health services
  • Housing navigation
  • And many others

The ROCk is not just ‘another shelter’ – it is a different concept entirely.  Think of The ROCk as the ‘front door’ for people experiencing homelessness in Santa Fe – a place where they can find emergency, walk-in shelter, where they can be engaged with our myriad service providers while they are getting their daily needs met, and where they can be shepherded toward programs that can stabilize their lives and lead to more permanent housing.

Numerous community partners have expressed a desire to participate with Interfaith by having a presence at The ROCk.  In the coming months, Interfaith expects to share more details about The ROCk and a timeline for its implementation.

“We’re All in this Together: A Story of the Interfaith Community Shelter at Pete’s Place.”

A Short Film.