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HELP FOR HOMELESS
Thank you Santa Fe Reporter, Nathan Dinsdale and the "Survive the Streets" demonstrators [Cover story, Nov. 22: "
"]. As a provider of services to homeless youth, I am sorry that I missed the opportunity to lend my voice to "convincing people that Santa Fe has a serious problem with homelessness."
Youth Shelters and Family Services, a local nonprofit, serves 500-plus homeless youth each year through our emergency shelter, transitional living program and street outreach program. More than half are from Santa Fe! They are the sons and daughters of high-income professionals, middle- and low-income, single- and two-parent families. Some are from the foster care system. Many are runaways, finding life on the streets safer than "home." Some call them "difficult kids." Often they have substance abuse problems and are in trouble with the law. They are struggling to stay in school-some have dropped out and spend their days searching for food and safe places to sleep.
These young people deserve our attention. With assistance they find jobs, finish school, pay taxes and contribute to our community. Recently, due to funding constraints, YSFS closed its Resource Center, which housed our First Contact Street Outreach Program. However, street-based outreach services are still being provided, and services at our emergency shelter, transitional living program and clinical services center are running at full capacity. Mayor Coss and his staff are assisting our agency in finding a new location to provide outreach services to homeless youth, and many of our amazing community supporters are generously offering financial and in-kind support. In partnership with other community agencies, we are providing youth with food and warm clothing; referrals for medical and counseling services; and assistance finding jobs, returning to school, locating safe housing and reuniting with their families.
These youth are a community responsibility. They have names and faces-they could be your son or daughter's elementary school friend, your neighbor's child or your employer's grandchild. They are hungry; buy them a sandwich, donate a coat or sleeping bag. Join the growing forces to end homelessness in Santa Fe. We need affordable housing, expanded programs and stable financial resources to nurture these youth. An investment in them is an investment in the future generation of our community.
To learn more about Youth Shelters and Family Services' programs, make a donation or volunteer, contact 983-0586.
Karen Rowell
Executive Director
Youth Shelters and Family Services
Santa Fe
UPPING THE ARTS
We're grateful to Zane Fischer for checking out
Native Underground
at MIAC on Nov. 17, and for joining us in pondering what we've been thinking about for quite a while [Zane's World, Nov. 22: "
" and Nov. 29: "
"]. Contextual propriety of the word "underground" aside, we felt the show itself was a success. Half of Avant Garde's (AG's) mission statement is about engaging a younger audience, but the other half is about supporting younger artists.
Native Underground
squarely hit this second target. It introduced young artists to a few folks that hadn't known their work at all and gave faces and personalities to artists that other folks knew only as names; and there were 200-plus folks in attendance. The show's momentum will probably develop into a similarly themed MIAC show. And, as Zane noted, Chocolate Helicopter sounded great. (Full disclosure: The Reporter donated ad space to promote the show.)
In less than three years, AG went from an idea to more than 280 young members in a city where people would often say there are no young people and that those who are here have nothing to do. AG has begun to fill that gap very creatively. The best way, though, to think of AG is as a group of arts- and museum-oriented people armed with the museums' support and a growing e-mail list (400-plus, I think). We simply try to organize events that we believe will pull down the median age of people who show up that night. We're not failing:
Native Underground
did meet this goal; this year's Pushpin Show featured 120 artists, drew 500 people for opening night and "skewed younger" (as they say in the biz).
We've of course struggled with the issues Zane raises. However, AG has no exclusionary policy, neither on the basis of age nor of foundation membership. Early AG PR material cited an age range, but we quickly realized that's aggressively self-defeating; we don't boot people out on their 45th birthday (we do, however, give them a lo-fi, bootleg, Betamax copy of
Logan's Run
as a subtle hint [joke]). Nor do we push hard on foundation membership; our events charge a low admission, ask for a suggested donation or are totally free, foundation member or not.
Native Underground
was more of an exception than the rule in that respect.
We don't believe "membership" per se is-or should be-the biggest obstacle to attendance at AG events. Zane's membership-based CityPass idea, though, appeals to us in a lot of ways, and we'd sincerely like to be involved in its evolution. Anyone interested in AG can contact us at
membership@museumfoundation.org
.
By the way, our end-of-year party is 6-9 pm at the Catamount on Dec. 8. As ever, all are invited, but we unfortunately will have to impose a minimum age limit of 21 w/ID for that event. Stop by, say hi, hang out a while.
Steven M Trujillo
Vice Chair
Avant Garde Steering Committee
Museum of New Mexico Foundation
Santa Fe
THEY HAVE NOTHING
Who on Earth does Bonnie Cline [Letters, Nov. 29: "
"] think she is?
On the subject of illegal immigrants, she writes: "What happens when they get sick or hurt and can no longer work? They go to the hospital and get free medical care and eventually end up on welfare." This is a disgusting stereotype.
People leave their countries because they can't make a living. They can't feed their families, they get sick and cannot afford health care, they cannot get an education, they cannot drink their water, they cannot heat their homes in the winter. Coming to a country full of racist and ignorant people, to clean their bathrooms and wash their dishes, is not an easy or fun decision. And yet, thousands of people set off on foot across Mexico because they have NOTHING. They know they may die of heat, or dehydration, or starvation, or even get shot. But it's something they must do to feed themselves and their families.
Simply because you are one of the 10 percent lucky enough to be born into advantage does not mean that you are a better person for it. "Allowing these people in this country by the masses and giving them the same privileges as our citizens is not fair." Do you know how many women are raped in the desert and left for dead on their passage here? That's not fair.
Colleen Massari
Santa Fe
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