Korina Lopez
Executive Director

Korina Lopez earned an associate degree in psychology and social work from Santa Fe Community College and a bachelor’s in social work from New Mexico Highlands University. She worked at the Christus St. Vincent Sobering Center and then was a program director at Youth Emergency Shelter. In mid-2020 as the coronavirus pandemic changed the landscape of care for those experiencing homelessness, Korina was hired as the Director of Consuelo’s Place, which is the Midtown Emergency Shelter, and she took on the role of Community Prevention Coordinator for the Santa Fe Public Schools.

“Since coming to Pete’s Place, as the lowest barrier shelter in Santa Fe, I have seen a well-set foundation and structure to it,” Korina said. “While at Consuelo’s Place, I collaborated with the staff here and at the other social service agencies to help those experiencing homelessness.” She added, “Coordinating with our community partners and building rapport with guests to begin work on transitional or permanent housing is so important.”

One only has to spend a little bit of time talking with Korina to know that her heart is in the right place to be the Executive Director of the Interfaith Community Shelter — and her experience and education support that passion and willingness to serve the most vulnerable in our Santa Fe community.

Beverly Kellam
Deputy ​ Director

Beverly hails from Louisiana, the Bayou State, and has degrees in business and economics from Baylor University and the University of Oklahoma. Before starting her family, Beverly was an economist and writer for the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, and she taught economics as an adjunct professor at several colleges and universities in Oklahoma and Dallas. Since joining the Shelter in 2016 as Finance Director, Beverly’s role has grown immensely. She is the finance and development director for the shelter and serves on several committees throughout the Santa Fe community with the goal of coordinating services for individuals experiencing homelessness. She has written and spoken on homelessness issues to several community groups and news organizations and enjoys working with the board and staff to help promote the amazing work being done at the Interfaith Community Shelter. She is the chair of the board of Consuelo’s Place, the emergency shelter at Midtown that arose during the pandemic and is board treasurer of the Fort Collins Childrens’ Theatre.

That said, Beverly would argue that her greatest achievements to date are her three (almost) grown children: Alex, Reed, and Katie.

Sue Carr
Volunteer Coordinator

Sue Carr is originally from the Chicago area, but moved to Colorado in 1980 with her family and lived there for 25 years. She has her BA in music from Colorado Christian University and over the years has worked as a music director for churches; music, piano, and English as a Second Language teacher; and an office administrator. Throughout her career, Sue felt called to volunteer at various agencies. She is a believer in on-the-job learning and worked in a church office to learn how the business of a church operates. The administrative skills that she learned there have transferred into other work places.

In 2013, after working in Florida for three years, Sue decided to move back west where she felt more at home and begin a career in social services. The original plan was to return to school, get a new degree and work in the social services field. But the opportunity for on-the-job learning happened again. While researching the community’s social service agencies, Sue literally walked into Interfaith Community Shelter on a Resource Day and heard they needed a temporary office worker. Three years later, she is still here working in the office and receiving an incredible education – right here at the shelter! Getting to know the people who work, volunteer, and – most importantly – stay here, make ICS truly unique. She considers it a privilege to be a part of this special service to the people of this community.

In her spare time, Sue enjoys music, Netflix drama series, and exploring the wild places of New Mexico. She especially loves finding petroglyphs!

Aaron Perez
Evening Program Manager

Len Rand, Chair
Retired CEO

Most recently Len was CEO of xF Technologies. Prior to that he was a General Partner at Granite Ventures in San Francisco, a General Manager at Intel Corporation responsible for Strategic Marketing and Global Alliances for ICG (Intel Communications Group), and the CEO and founder of NetBoost Corporation which developed network processors and supporting software (acquired by Intel). Len was founder and CEO of three other venture backed startups, Internet Middleware (proxy caching), sold to Network Appliances; The Whitewater Group (Object oriented development tools – CEO only), sold to Symantec; The Rand Group (FEA software), sold to Intergraph Corporation. In addition, Len was a corporate officer at Autodesk and Intergraph.

Len holds multiple degrees in engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and is active in the not-for-profit communities in Santa Fe.

Natasha Katko, Vice Chair
CHRISTUS St. Vincent Regional Medical Center

Natasha Katko is a native New Mexican, who grew up in Villanueva, NM, and attended school in Santa Fe, NM. Natasha currently works at CHRISTUS St. Vincent Regional Medical Center as a Senior Analyst, and Physician Contract Manager. Natasha holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business, and a Master of Business Administration degree.

Natasha finds fulfillment in providing service to her community in various ways. Natasha believes that one small act can make all the difference. While she experienced adversity in her upbringing, she did not let that define her. Today, Natasha continues to use her experiences to connect with others, and to influence change by showing others that despite their circumstances, change is possible.

Wendy Rhema, Secretary
Advent Life Church

Wendy has lived in NM, primarily Albuquerque, most of her life and has been in Santa Fe since 2012 where, she says, she finally found her “Forever Home”. Wendy recognized at a young age that the best of life is found in service to others; in living and sharing a simple life and the quiet joy of peace and nonviolence, in unconditional love for all, in embracing diversity, and in helping others to find the same. “My greatest hope” she says, “is to help create a paradigm shift in the hearts and minds of the community to understand that the unhoused issues belong to us all, and that any one of us could be out on the street and in need of assistance should life surprise us with an unexpected illness or accident.”

Wendy has worked as an accountant most of her adult life, including as the Controller at Valley Fence Company and as the Director of Finance at The Santa Fe New Mexican for the most recent 10 years. While she loves her work in accounting, her heart is really “all in” the volunteer work that she does as a Chaplain in the local community with the unhoused, marginalized, emotionally & spiritually wounded, as a volunteer with a local area community group working to end homelessness and the housing crisis, and in service to and fellowship with a caring local community at Advent Life Church who prepare and serve meals at the Shelter at least 3 or 4 times a month. Wendy also sits on the steering committee of Nonviolent Santa Fe and assists in presenting seminars promoting and educating others in choosing a life of nonviolence and nonviolent communication.

R. Kent Grubbs, Treasurer
Church of the Holy Faith

A native of Tulsa, Oklahoma, Kent moved to Santa Fe in 2017 following a career in the international oil and gas industry.  A geologist by profession, Kent managed exploration, development, and production projects mainly in sub-Saharan Africa, the North Sea, Russia, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, and the U. S. Gulf of Mexico.   During his career Kent lived overseas for nearly 14 years, with postings in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire; London, England; and Melbourne, Australia.

From 2002 onward, however, Kent was largely domiciled in Houston, Texas.  Through his church home, Christ Church Cathedral (Episcopal), Kent began volunteering at its homeless outreach center, The Beacon, when it first opened its doors in January 2007, eventually joining its Board in 2009 and becoming Board president in 2013.  During his tenure as president, The Beacon became integrated with Houston’s city-wide homelessness initiative, The Way Home.  Kent also served  for a year on the Board of Houston’s Coalition for the Homeless, the lead agency for The Way Home, until he left Houston for Santa Fe.

Kent holds a BA in History from Trinity University and an MSc in Geology from the University of Oklahoma.

Bo Keppel
Temple Beth Shalom

With a BA from Middlebury College, MAs from Harvard and Trenton State, and PhD coursework at Rutgers, Bo Keppel has been an educator most of her life either at the high school, community college or university levels before teaching in prisons – and finally at a preschool!  She visited Santa Fe and fell in love with the community and knew she wanted to move here permanently. After spending a year with AmeriCorps/National Aids Fund in Santa Fe, she was offered a job with Healthcare for the Homeless and moved here for good in 2010.

At Healthcare for the Homeless Bo served as the Intensive Case Manager, serving those with mental health diagnoses and/or drug use disorders.  Moving to part time after two years, she became the Harm Reduction Specialist exchanging used syringes for clean, teaching infection prevention and the use of Narcan, the opioid overdose reversal drug. While here with AmeriCorps, Bo began volunteering at the Shelter. She was “hooked” with serving this community and she has been a consistent volunteer – here at other non-profits in Santa Fe. Volunteering brings her “phenomenal joy” which explains why Bo is rarely at home or finds herself with nothing to do!

Kathleen Watson Nadler
Westminster Presbyterian Church

Since moving to Santa Fe nearly 15 years ago, Kathleen has spent countless hours volunteering at the Shelter, working in the Clothing Closet and cooking dinner with Westminster Presbyterian church, where she serves on the Missio Dei committee and as a deacon.

After receiving a bachelor’s degree in English from Eastern Illinois University, Kathleen’s experience included working as an editor, copy writer, radio news broadcaster, state employee and writing center tutor. However, the most meaningful work came later at the Domestic Abuse Project (DAP) in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, where for 10 years she learned of the needs of the brave and vulnerable folks who walked through their doors. She also worked for Interfaith Action of Evanston, helping to organize a weekly soup kitchen, staffing the morning Hospitality Center and serving a two-year term as Board President.

It was also during her time in Chicago that she became a weaver. Kathleen believes the beauty of New Mexico has certainly been an inspiration to continue her craft.

Arthur Neudek
First Presbyterian Church of Santa Fe

After moving to Santa Fe from Walnut Creek, CA, Art is excited to focus more of his time on his calling, serving those forgotten people who are in greatest need. He had volunteered, coordinating and serving weekly meals at the Boston Rescue Mission and served as board member of the Trinity Center in Walnut Creek. In addition to volunteering and serving on the board at Pete’s Place, he is currently a financial advisor to Native American Outreach Ministries, Inc. This ministry runs safe houses for Native American children in crisis, with facilities just off the Navajo Reservation in Arizona and on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota. He is excited to see how both organizations help lift people out of the cycle of hopelessness and poverty.

Arthur holds a BBA in Finance and a MS in Real Estate from the University of Wisconsin and PhD course work in real estate at the University of North Texas. His professional work consisted primarily of valuing and reviewing real estate debt for large financial institutions.

Kevin Rapp
Realtor/Data Analyst

Kevin joined the Santa Fe community at the end of 2021 after spending 25 years in Denver, CO, and visiting Santa Fe nearly every year. Hailing from Iowa, Kevin was raised with a strong sense of respect for all individuals. Witnessing the growing number of unhoused people during his visits to Santa Fe deeply affected him, inspiring him to get involved in helping this community. In early 2023, Kevin joined a volunteer group dedicated to supporting the unhoused population and related service providers. Since May 2023, he has been a committed volunteer at the Shelter, cooking dinners on Thursday nights.

Professionally, Kevin holds a BBA in Accounting from the University of Iowa. He began his career in private accounting before transitioning to the banking industry, where he spent over 25 years honing skills in data management, project management, process management, business analysis, and loan operations. Additionally, Kevin is licensed in Real Estate in New Mexico and holds Health and Life Insurance licenses in both New Mexico and Colorado.

Veronica Rigales
Santa Maria de la Paz

Meredith Tilp
St. Bede’s Episcopal Church

Meredith Tilp’s philosophy about the evolving homeless situation in Santa Fe is to involve stakeholders and funders as well as students in researching, designing, implementing and promoting solutions. Since 2008, she has brought over 500 south side students, teachers, their friends and parents to volunteer at Pete’s Place since the time we washed dishes in the bathtub. She has been an active member of St. Bede’s Episcopal Church regarding homelessness, youth involvement, refugee ministries and Afghan resettlement. She likes to work on planning for the change of the future by involving young people.

She and her students were awarded the Mayor’s Muchissimas Gracias Award and Partners in Education Teacher of the Year. She has taught US government, economics, New Mexico history and human geography at Capital High for 13 years.

Meredith worked for 20 years with Archbishop Desmond Tutu in South Africa helping to establish the Tutu Legacy Foundation in Capetown, South Africa. As a vice President at Helen Keller International in New York City she initiated a school-based program which provided millions of needy students with eyeglasses. Leveraging financial resources to support excellent programs is one of her goals.

She has published several curricula about New Mexico through the Yale Teacher’s Initiative and studied international non-profit management at Harvard Business School.

She holds a Bachelors in International Studies from the School for International Training, Brattleboro, Vermont and a Master in Political Science and Ethics from Drew University in Madison, New Jersey.

Dave Weir
Retired CEO

In a career spanning over forty years, Dave has been an investment banker, entrepreneur, startup CEO and graduate school professor. Most recently, Dave was the Co-Founder and CEO of First Crop, a public benefit company whose mission focused on revitalizing rural communities. Before Co-founding First Crop, Dave served as the CEO of the financial technology companies Offroad Capital and SharesPost. Prior to becoming a startup CEO, Dave was a Managing Director at J.P. Morgan & Co. where he was the Head of its Technology and Telecommunications Investment Banking practice and was responsible for all of JP Morgan’s business in the Western United States.

Dave was also an Adjunct Professor at the Leavey Graduate School of Business at Santa Clara University and the University of San Francisco Graduate School of Management where he taught classes in Entrepreneurial Finance. He has been an active nonprofit Board member with a focus on housing and financial literacy and served as Chairman of the Board of LifeMoves, the largest provider of services for homeless individuals and families in San Mateo and San Jose Counties in California and the Bay Area Board of Directors of the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE).

Partner Providers offer services at Interfaith Community Shelter for any person needing access to services necessary to stabilize his or her life. For the list of services offered and their scheduled days and times, see Get Help.

• Artful Life Santa Fe
• Goodwill Industries of New Mexico, Veterans Services
• NM Legal Aid
• Healthcare for the Homeless, La Familia Medical Center
• The Life Link
• Santa Fe Alcoholics Anonymous
• Southwest Care Center
• Upaya & Mtn. Cloud Zen Center
• Youth Shelters and Family Services

Other collaborators working with ICS to provide services or other assistance to those experiencing homelessness.

• Chaplain Joe’s Street Outreach
• Christus St. Vincent HUGS Program
• City of Santa Fe Human Services Commission
• Consuelo’s Place
• The Food Depot
• Feed the Hungry
• New Mexico Street Homeless Animal Project
• S3 Santa Fe Housing Initiative
• Santa Fe Fire Department, Mobile Integrated Health Office (MIHO)
• Santa Fe Parks, Trails and Watershed Rangers
• Santa Fe Police Department
• Santa Fe Alternative Response Unit
• St. Elizabeth’s Shelter

We are grateful to the generous faith and civic groups and also individuals who prepare a nutritious and filling dinner each night for the Winter Shelter Season. Learn more how you can organize a Host Team on our Volunteer Page.

• Advent Life Church
• Bill Koogler & Friends
• Christine Winfield & Friends
• Christ Church of Santa Fe
• Christus St. Vincent Medical Center
• Church of the Holy Faith, Episcopal
• Coro de Jesu Christo
• Dr. Wendy Johnson & Volunteers
• First Baptist Church
• First Baptist Church, Lewisville, TX
• First Presbyterian Church
• Holy Trinity Orthodox
• ICS Board of Directors
• Immanuel Lutheran Church
• JB Giveback Foundation
• Dr. Jacob Prishkulnik, DDS and Volunteers
• La Familia Medical Center
• LANL Service Group
• Michelle Galanz & Family
• Mtn. Cloud Zen Center
• Momentous, Glorieta, NM 
• Notre Dame Club of Santa Fe
• Our Lady of Guadalupe Church
• Pam Jones & Friends
• Rotary Club of Santa Fe
• San Isidro Catholic Church
• Santa Fe Atheists
• Santa Fe Center for Spiritual Living
• Santa Fe High School National Honor Society
• Santa Maria de la Paz Catholic Church
• Santa Fe Masonic Lodge
• St. Anne’s Catholic Parish
• St. Anne’s Knights of Columbus
• St. Bede’s Episcopal Church
• St. Bede’s Contemplative Prayer Group
• Temple Beth Shalom
• United Church of Santa Fe
• Upaya Zen Center
• UVD Church