the voice of la puente (fall 2011)

fall 2011

THE VOICEof

LA PUENTE

“If you really want to make a friend, go to someone’s house and eat with him...

the people who give you their food give you their heart.”- Cesar Chavez -

The Voice of La Puente2

CONTENT

Devin Forest Cornwall - Uncovering Value..........................................3-4Jeff Owsley - Springing Life....................................................................5Jordan Karp - Conflicts of Care...........................................................6-7Sue Miller - Finding Friendship............................................................8-9 Meghan Ibach - Successful Support..................................................10-11Gardening and Gleaning Information...................................................12Jordan Mcilveen - The Roybal Family....................................................13Kaitlin Porter - Gleaning for the Greater Good................................14-15Summer Review in Pictures..............................................................16-19Calvin Moreau - Potato Pulp...........................................................20-23Lance Cheslock - The Guatamaleans of Alamosa..............................24-27Program Needs......................................................................................28How You Can Help .............................................................................29Devin Forest Cornwall - A Boy’s Prayer.................................................30Prayer of the Farmworker’s Struggle.......................................................31

Some names have been changed to protect anonymity

The Voice of La Puente is a quarterly publication that is meant to provide readers with a glimpse of day-to-day life at La Puente’s programs by sharing the goals, challenges, accomplishments and greatest needs of the staff, volunteers, and guests.

La Puente is grateful for all that our donors do to help us continue our services. Whether their contributions come to us in the form of volunteer hours, financial gifts, material donations, or thoughts and prayers, we couldn’t do without them.

- To receive an electronic version, go to www.lapuente.net -

LaPuente [email protected]

www.lapuente.net- Donate Online! -

FALL 2011 3

This past summer I participated in a three and a half week program called “Coach for College” which helped connect American Student-Athletes in the Atlantic Coast Conference with Vietnamese college students at Can Tho University in order to promote higher education to eighth grade students in the Thuan Hung province.

Two and a half months before arriving in Alamosa I was sitting on the weather-beaten bench of an open classroom in rural Vietnam with my shirt soaked through with sweat. I had long ago abandoned the hope for a cooling breeze, passing cloud, or even the warm rain of the monsoon season. Glimpses of rice paddies stretching off into the horizon peaked through the cracked and broken windowpanes lining the far wall of the classroom. I learned quickly that the children and their families are often tied to the fields through financial dependencies and generational passing of trade.

Weekday absences were a common occurrence at the school, especially during the monsoon season, which marked the start of the rice harvesting. Children were regularly expected to join their families in the paddies when harvesting began, with school being a privileged activity for wealthier families. I found, after spending a month in Vietnam, that I began to develop a close bond with a little boy named Dien, who, at the beginning of my time in Vietnam had shrugged off the idea of college, believing that he would be needed in the fields to help his family.

At fifteen, Dien only came up to about my chest. He wore the largest smile I saw in Southeast Asia while playing soccer, basketball, volleyball and tennis, all of which he played barefoot. He was happy, but gritty, toughened by the realities of rural poverty. And so at the end of the program, when I turned in response to a shoulder tap to find him standing there, tears streaming down his face, a Vietnamese coach he recruited as a translator by his side, I could do nothing but watch as broken Vietnamese flowed from his quivering lips. He told me, as the volunteer bus started up behind us, that ‘he promised he would study and try as hard as he could in school. He would work hard and

Uncovering ValueDevin Forest CornwallCommunity Education


plan to go on to college.’ The bus honked for us to load up and in parting Dien said ‘he’d never forget what I had taught him.’ I bent down and gave him a hug and reluctantly walked onto the bus.

Now a world away I sometimes wonder how Dien is doing. I hope he’s still as determined as I left him - teary-eyed and waving from the middle of the school’s cobblestone driveway. But as time moves forward, so must I and as I sit writing this introduction wondering what La Puente and Alamosa might have in store, I’m amazed at the similarities between my recent travels and here.

With gleaning season approaching rather quickly, visions of stooped rice harvesters dotting the paddies enter my mind and I begin to find that this act of giving, this physical service of collecting and distributing to the greater community is something that might stay with me long after familiar faces and voices have worn with time. And I’m finding that the reason lies in the unity and selflessness I first found in Vietnam and now am discovering here within La Puente.

Throughout my years in college, I was continuously dedicated to my pursuits. I ran for the cross country and track and field teams, which required immense determination and dedication with very few breaks - only two weeks off the entire year. Alongside running I was also very involved in my education, and attempted to soak in as much of the lessons in my Marketing and English classes as I could. The one thing I wan’t able to do was give a large amount of time for service. All my activities centered around what I had in mind for myself. And while I learned long ago that such activities are needed to maintain a healthy lifestyle, but while our personal pursuits enrich our lives through interests and passions, service has a way of sharing the values and skills we’ve harvested with so many others.

This issue of “The Voice of La Puente” is filled with stories about the values many of our authors have discovered here at La Puente. I hope you may find a story or two which sparks some thoughts about the values you have gathered and might share with willing and open hands.

Uncovering Value

*Dien sitting in the schoolyard

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Think of how many people in the world ever see a natural spring bubbling from the earth. Living close to the Continental Divide, we in Colorado’s San Luis Valley have a better chance than most to see one,

but such places are still very high in the mountains and normally require a heart pounding hike to get there.

On a recent trail run near South Fork, I stopped to take a picture of the transformation taking place since the Million Forest Fire of 2002. Dense growth of new aspen trees enveloped the base of a rolling sea of much taller burned and scarred trunks. My thoughts were already centered on the beauty of healing from such devastation, when in the high mountain silence my ears caught a faint trickling sound. I turned and noticed a bright green strip of growth in the distance that abruptly ended and was surrounded by the normal, much dryer mountain ground cover. I smiled at the discovery. A closer look revealed pristine crystal water coming out of the earth, surrounded by lush growth of healthy grass and gorgeous wildflowers. It was a spectacular sight.

As I went on with my run, I meditated on how these pictures in nature are actually seen daily in society. People experience extreme difficulties in life, sometimes to the point of devastation. La Puente is a key, go-to organization when our community members experience major setbacks. Many are at the point of near total loss, similar to situations caused by fire where they might only have the clothes on their back.

Restoration from disaster takes a lot of time. Many people, most of them volunteers, are critical throughout the process. Little by little growth sprouts and takes root. There is a sweet feeling of joy to witness new life growing out of dust.

Springing LifeJeff OwsleyLa Puente Enterprises

*Scarred trees along the run


I’ve been here for six months and learned a lot. One of the largest lessons I learned was the ability to deal with the feeling of helplessness the staff continually encounters when conflicts arise with the children outside the program’s boundaries. One of the challenges of being a PALS staff member is the duality we have to endure with the children. At certain times in the PALS program, we are encouraged to be a pseudo-parent and in many others are not allowed to. When disciplining a child in PALS, you are often showered with proclamations of hate and sadness, but in knowing that these early lessons will help them make healthier decisions in the future, such comments are easier to endure. Though, sometimes you have to make a decision where there is no silver lining visible.

During drop offs the other day, a PAL, Michael, began to cry in the van. He claimed that his stomach hurt and said he wanted to go home instead of being dropped off at his secondary day care. His mom was called and said she would be there as soon as she could be. A sudden stomach ache is no big deal, but after refusing to leave the van the staff realized that there was more to the crying than just a simple stomach ache.

“Michael, would you like to tell me what’s really bothering you?” I asked him. He shook his head no. I moved in closer and spoke softer, “Buddy, is someone here mean to you?” He shook his head yes. With his answer, my co-worker

Conflictsof CareJordan KarpPALS Children’s Program

*A PAL enjoying a piggyback

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and I were placed into a position where our legal obligations as PALS staff members took precedence over what we would have liked to have done for Michael. The secondary daycare center was not an “unsafe” environment so we couldn’t take him back to PALS, neither could we wait with him, or even deliver him to his house. Our only option was to inform a staff member at the day care of his current distress, leave him in their care and trust that everything would be okay. But it broke our hearts, and will continue to.

Having to manage our desires to care for a child and our legal responsibilities as employees is, at times, a very distressing position. Not being able to go find the kid bullying “ours” and have a stern talk with them; carrying a sobbing child you wish to protect into an environment where you know they don’t feel safe goes against every natural instinct you have. That was the moment that I learned to accept feelings of helplessness. Often, in our field of work, we cannot do as much as we would like to and this tears us apart, but it is essential to be okay with these types of situations if we wish to continue helping improve the children’s lives as well as our own.

This situation did work out though, thankfully. We talked to Michael the next day and learned the bully’s name and told the staff at the day care. The staff talked to the bully’s parents and told them that such behavior was unacceptable and if it didn’t stop then they couldn’t come to the daycare anymore. Since then Michael has had a great time at the day care and hasn’t encountered and further troubles. Helplessness sometimes teaches us how important our jobs really are and often how much of a difference we can make in someone else’s life.

* * *“It’s not only children who grow. Parents do too.

As much as we watch to see what our children do with their lives, they are watching us to see what we do with ours. I can’t tell my children to

reach for the sun. All I can do is reach for it, myself.”

- Joyce Maynard

“...carrying a sobbing child you wish to protect into an environment where you know they don’t feel safe goes against every natural instinct you have..."


My husband, Gordon, and I are full time volunteers with the Mennonite Voluntary Service and work at the Outreach Office at La Puente. I met Gordon when we were both volunteering with the Mennonite Disaster Service, and

for 20 of our 33 years married years we have both been active volunteers with Prison Fellowship. Gordon and I each felt that God had called us to volunteer work where we could feed the hungry, give drinks to the thirsty, give clothes to those needing them and visit the lonely and those in prison.

I work in La Puente’s Outreach Services program, assisting families facing financial difficulties with their heating costs. Recently, while visiting with an energy vendor I was told about a client needing help. She was an elderly woman who had fallen and broken her ankle and struggled with putting wood in her furnace. The vendor asked if we would be able to assist this client with propane to use in a stove to make it easier on her to heat her house.

Through the energy vendor, I met Maria, an intelligent lady who lives out in the middle of “no-man’s land” with her cat and a fawn she rescued. After a month or so, I was able to assist her with propane. She sent me a letter of thanks and visited me at the Outreach office and since then we’ve developed a friendship. After discussing business in the office, we talked about other things and began to discover that our values were very similar. Maria was interested in why my husband and I were volunteering and also about our spiritual journey with

Finding FriendshipSue MillerOutreach Services

*A happy recepient at this year’s backpack drive, at which Outreach gave out 250 backpacks before the start of school

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God, which ultimately lead us to Colorado and La Puente. Gordon and I decided to meet Maria for dinner and since she couldn’t drive, we said we’d pick her up. We entered Maria’s address into our GPS and followed the directions to her mailbox, which was still a lengthy mile away from her home. After arriving and introducing my husband, Maria got in the car and was immediately interested in the GPS, giving it the name “Susan.”

“Will ‘Susan’ be able to get us to our restaurant?” Maria asked.

While the trip to the restaurant was uneventful, with the exception of “Susan” leading us to a dead end, which further tested Maria’s trust in the little gadget, our dinner together, was delightful. We learned more about each other’s lives and discussed many different topics, including exploring the meaning of service.

Maria wondered what Jesus meant in Matthew chapter 28, where He said to teach others to obey His commands. Not only are we to serve others, but to teach Jesus’ commandments as well. Maria shared how she was looking for ways to serve others and wondered how she could do that. Who needs her help? She lives in the Valley with very few neighbors and not a lot of resources.

Maria’s questions at dinner reminded me of questions I once asked myself. Sometimes it seems hard to uncover the hidden tasks and needs of a community, but that’s just the thing. If we ask, then, quite often, we shall receive. Searching for ways to contribute and help is easily the first step in finding useful ways to give back to your community. Often times some needs previously not met can be solved with new ideas and skills.

Gordon and I hope to continue to meet with Maria. And although Maria may not know it, she continues to encourage both of us to serve our community through the life she lives. Even though life has not been easy, Maria has forgiven situations and choices of others who have affected her. She has left bitterness and grudges behind. Because of choosing the different alleys that have led her to this road in life, she is a joy and inspiration. I pray we can follow her choices as we continue to try and live more giving lives.

“Maria wondered what Jesus meant in Matthew chapter 28, where He said to teach others to obey His commands."


“I know you,you’re garden lady!”

It’s a phrase I’ve heard more often than not in the past four months. Mainly it comes from kids younger than 10, and boy they can spot me out in a crowd! It’s also a phrase that warms my heart, and makes me so happy to be in my line of work. I am the Alamosa Community Garden Coordinator, working for La Puente and the community at large. I teach garden lessons in classrooms during the school year, I help run a free garden camp in the summer, and grow food for the Alamosa Food Bank Network as well as the La Puente Shelter. I love my job.

I’ve not always been a gardener. In fact, for most of my 24 years I’ve had quite the black thumb. I could kill a plant with just glance. I came here from Charlotte, North Carolina, where I have a large and loving family who’ve supported me through all my endeavors and am very blessed to have them in my life. I came to Alamosa for the job—working in a community garden, teaching nutrition education, and providing fresh, healthy produce to people who need it the most. I didn’t know anyone, and I really didn’t even understand

where Alamosa was, let alone what kind of place it would turn out to be. I was also nervous to begin my job. Yeah I’ve had a garden before - using starter plants and about a 50% success rate. But gardening for a community? Oh boy.

So needless to say, this summer hasn’t been

SuccessfulSupportMeghan IbachCommunity Gardens

* Garden Camp kids enjoy a craft project

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the easiest. Not only have I been trying to figure out this whole “growing plants for food” thing, but also the whole “growing plants in a high alpine desert with winds up to 60 mph and possibly (hopefully) a sprinkle of rain” thing. Oh, and grow all of this within a less than three month window of good weather. No, it’s true, the San Luis Valley is not an easy place to grow food, but they did mention that when I took this job. “If you can grow food here, you can grow food anywhere.” I hope that much is true, although only time will tell; that and the scale I use to weigh the produce when I bring it to the food bank.

But that’s just the beauty of it all. Although I’m a novice at community gardening, I’ve gotten so much support from people around me: fellow gardeners, other La Puente volunteers, school teachers, shelter guests, and the community at large. I love community garden nights every Tuesday, when you don’t know who’s going to walk into the garden to start helping. Something about weeding helps people open up and start talking about their lives. You meet people large and small, who all have their own story to tell. I loved garden camp, not just for the amazing group of kids I got to know, but for the wonderful group of community members who showed up each week, just to help out and join in the fun. My job is just as much getting to know people as it is to grow food for the food bank, and wow, I love it.

So yes I will measure my success by poundage produced and how long

I can extend our growing season, but I also want to measure it with less quantifiable results - watching a family take home pounds of fresh produce at the food bank; the greetings by shelter guests when harvesting food from the Grow Dome, which they will eat for dinner; hearing a little first grader answer “photosynthesis” because he remembered my garden lesson from two weeks ago; helping two little boys pick garden produce so they can have fresh food to eat. We can all be successful in life, but we all need some support and help along the way. For as much support this community has given me, I just hope one day that I can give as much back to them.

* * *“The fair-weather gardener, who will do nothing except when the wind and weather and everything else are favorable, is never master of his [her] craft.”

- Henry Ellacombe

“Something about weeding helps people open up and start talking about their lives."


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 unused produce to community members who need it most.

During the harvest season, from mid-August to mid-October, generous volunteer groups from around the state come to Alamosa to spend a Saturday gleaning in a local farmer’s field. Overnight accommodations are available at local churches for gleaning groups.

To get involved with our gleaning project contact the Food Bank Network at [email protected]. Or, to find more information on the specifics of gleaning and what it entails, check online on our website:

- www.lapuente.net/gleaning -

The Gleaning Project The roybalFamilyJordan McilveenAdelante Family Services

The Alamosa Community Gardens Project is a collaboration between local schools, non-profits, and the community to teach gardening and nutrition while providing healthy produce to benefit garden participants and community services such as the local food bank. While our main garden is on the corner of 11th and State Avenue, we are also building a garden at the new Alamosa Elementary School. With garden nights every Tuesday from 5-7pm, and garden mornings every Friday from 9-11am, June through October 8th, if you’d like to stop by.

To get involved in the Alamosa Community Garden Projectplease contact us at [email protected].

the Community GARdEn

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April 24, 2010: this was the day the Roybal family’s life changed forever. This was the day one troubled mother, four small children, and four bags flew from West Virginia to Colorado, not knowing what the future held.

This brave mother, Kim, was married for seven years to a man she loved, but who held her captive in an unrelentingly abusive relationship. On that April day, Kim opened the door of her house to find three men standing outside, one dressed in uniform and two in suits. “We’re here for your husband,” one said. And just like that, they took him away to jail.

As Kim watched her husband slumped in the back of the police car, she was able to stand a little taller as her mind was filled with images of a brighter future. “Freedom, independence!” she thought! He couldn’t hurt them anymore. They could finally live however they wanted! She pictured a sweet little house with her children playing happily in the backyard and the chance to have all of their friends and neighbors over to eat.

Suddenly she stopped in the midst of her excitement as reality set in: how were they going to make it? Kim’s credit had been destroyed by her husband’s overspending; she had four children, the youngest an eight month old and the oldest a kindergartener, and now her only financial resource was going to jail.

* * *The rest of Jordan’s story will be featured as part of the Adelante Family Poster

Project at the Grand Opening of the new Alamosa Food Bank and Adelante Family Services building on Saturday October 1st, from 11 am to1 pm. Come

out to tour the new building and enjoy the refreshments and fun.

The roybalFamilyJordan McilveenAdelante Family Services


Gleaningfor TheGreater GoodKaitlin PorterFood Bank Network

The long awaited gleaning season has finally arrived and on Saturday morning, a group of volunteers headed out to our first farm to glean potatoes as our guinea pig group. Sure enough, the trip didn’t go perfectly smoothly. From the combination of the new volunteer’s unfamiliarity with the area, myself sometimes forgetting how small certain towns are, and general directions based off of obscured landmarks, we eventually made it to our gleaning spot and followed the “yellow brick road” of abandoned golden potatoes to the field.

As we scoured the field for potatoes in the hot sun, Jackie celebrating her ability to find the smallest potato, James awkwardly pouring a shirt full

of potatoes into a crate, Eva carrying a crate back to the van on her head, and Craig in overalls overseeing the general progress of our small group, I realized what a rare and special

opportunity gleaning is. It is hard work, giving us an extreme appreciation for people that spend all week harvesting these crops, especially since it’s probably not the first choice of many people as to how they want to spend their Saturday morning—the sun is hot, the crates get heavy quickly, and soon all the rows of potatoes look the same, but it is a tangible service.

A lot of what we do to serve people here at La Puente is intangible and it becomes even more difficult – almost entirely impossible - to see something

“A lot of what we do to serve people here at La Puente is intangible...”

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through from beginning to end. It’s hard to know that you’re achieving a positive result; that any moment might prove significant to another person. To be a part of providing food for the Food Bank Network—not just going to pick up food at Wal-Mart—but to actually retrieve the food from the earth, transport it back to the food bank and know that Monday morning, the people of the San Luis Valley will have fresh produce is something to be cherished. Not only is the Gleaning Program a way of providing a direct service for the distribution of fresh produce, but it’s also a way for the food bank and local farmers in the area to connect in a meaningful activity.

As we finished loading the crates of potatoes into the van, we were met by one of head farmhands who stopped by to see how we made out in our couple hours of work. He offered to show us the machinery that harvests the potatoes, followed by an excursion to the potato storage area, where the massive amount of harvested potatoes were held before shipping them off all around the country. Since agriculture is such a huge part of this area, people want others to know how their farms work and gleaning is a valuable way we can gain a bit of that knowledge. We are lucky enough to have planned out a gleaning season with many people willing to share their knowledge as well as their crops.

Our group of volunteers returned to Alamosa a little dirtier and sunburned than we left it, but had pockets filled with potatoes too small to give out and proud of our work and the food we had acquired for our community members. I think we all had complete respect and a little more understanding for what farmers and their workers go through while harvesting food for others. Plus,

despite it being hard work, it turns out gleaning is a fun group project and many of the volunteers requested to come again the following week to help. For just a few hours on a Saturday morning we will continue to help glean and within our voluntary labors we will continue to discover the values, sometimes looked over, of giving something directly back to our community.

*Fellow gleaner, and full-time volunteer,Cory Karalekas, finds a tiny potato


We’ve been busy,Here’s what we’ve been up to

While the ever continuing shelter lunches kept our bellies full, and wonderful daydreams occupied our free hours, many sunny days were spent leading work groups, rafting and lots of other outdoor activities. Browse through and see what we’ve been doing behind the scences.

*Pictured on this page:1) Thanks to Dan & Debbie Bowers of CIA Leavitt and staff, PALS got the chance to go rafting. It was a milestone day for PALS and created many lasting memories for the kids.2) Freshly picked carrots from the Boyd Community Garden.

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Pictured above:1) The lunch line at the shelter is always busy.2) Wild Bill enjoys the wonderful summer weather on the shelter’s outdoor patio.


Pictured above: 1) The Alamosa Food Bank stays busy throughout the year.2) A giant gleaning find during one of the work group gleaning projects.

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Pictured above: 1) A migrant worker picking up lettuce from the field during harvesting season. 2) Volunteers in a gleaning workgroup form a potato assembly line. 3) A workgroup gleaning in the fields during harvest season.


On a sweltering July night Richard stepped out on the porch facing state avenue for a hot dose of fresh air. This had been a hard day to digest, tougher than alligator meat. The homeless Vets he is in charge of had just finished taking down the U.S. and P.O.W. flags.

La Puente was settling down for the night. That’s when Juice, the ex-

town drunk, came staggering up. He’d quit drinking years ago, but the name and the stagger stuck. He looked out of breath and seemed worried tonight, stumbling up the sidewalk to Richard. Long time since I’d seen him like this, Richard thought.“Oh no, no sir.” The old veteran stammered. “I just walked fast as these old legs would go—maybe three miles, to tell somebody what I saw in the river; a submarine just like in the war, but in the Rio Grande? I must be crazy, you think?”“Maybe you’re just hungry. Come in and I’ll fix you up a bowl of chili.” Richard said as helped Juice up the steps. Something scared him bad, he thought. Just as Juice finished his story, sirens began to wail all over town.“Elf, gather up the vets quick. Teddie come here, something’s up. We need your talent.” “No Teddie, don’t go,” one of the two ladies on the couch with Teddie said.“You’re terrible Teddie,” the other one just muttered.

At sixty, he was beginning to believe it—after all, they can’t all be wrong. He felt for his wallet. Then he stared into space searching through his subconscious, a talent he’d picked up since he’d joined the writing workshop.“What do you see?” Richard asked.“I see…I see why they tell you to dig your latrine a hundred feet from the river— No it’s more like a giant bratwurst, or maybe a submarine. Yeah, it’s a sub alright. I see a big gun on the deck. Now it’s submerging, sir.”“Teddie, I’ve asked you before not to call me sir, just Richard.”

The phone rang moments later and Richard answered. It was Rudolph at the employment office.

Potato PulpCalvin MoreauCommunity Member

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“They’ve got the whole office surrounded. I can’t get any of this paperwork done. They keep calling for me to come out with my hands up.”“Who, who’s calling you Rudolf?”“The cops. I’m not moving till I get all of today’s applications into the computer. If I don’t, the Valley will be flooded with broke, homeless families.”“Ok, calm down Rudolf. Hold ‘em off as long as you can, and I’ll see what the vets can do about it.”

Big John pulled up front in the truck a few minutes later.“We’ve got the truck loaded, ready to go. Any idea where?”“Yeah, Milagro’s for coffee. You got the weapons and ammo loaded?”“We’re ready for anything,” Big John said.

Inside Milagro’s they sat on the few vacant chairs they could find. After coffee and conversation they regrouped outside.“Well what have we got?” Richard asked. One name repeatedly came up - Le Sewer. The manager, Jay, said he lived upstairs on the third floor flat that no one else would rent. “Let’s go have a “talk” with Mr. Le Sewer.” Richard decided.

The door to the stairway was locked.“We’ll have to take the fire escape, but first we’ll have to split up. Elf, you and Big John take the truck to the river, see if you can find out what that sub is up to. Teddie, you and Jerry come with me.”

The alley was a dark, deep canyon. Climbing the fire escape they found the fire exit locked, so they traversed the ledge to the nearest open window a few feet away. Down the hall the only occupied room was locked. Richard listened at the door and heard giggling.“Alright Teddie, take her down.”

The heavy antique door splintered when Teddie’s bulk struck it. A girl lounging in an armchair, presumably the source of the giggling, covered her face with the summer issue of “The Voice of La Puente” she had been reading. Teddie grabbed Le Sewer from behind.“Hold him there Teddie.” Richard said. Jerry pulled out a spoon and stood ready. Richard began, “OK, Le Sewer, tell us about the submarine.”“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” “You’ll talk or else. Jerry, give him a taste of inspiration.” Jerry held the spoon above his bald head and began to tap lightly.“No. No. Stop, please. My mother used to beat me with a spoon. I can’t stand it.”


“Well…?” Richard prodded.“OK, they paid good to set up the diversion at the employment office. They plan to fire botulism contaminated potatoes into the fields to destroy the harvest.”

The confession that poured from Le Sewer left a rank smell in the air, like a Bourbon Street alley at Mardi Gras. Richard pulled off his belt.“OK, that’s enough. Here Teddie, tie these two up tight and let’s get out of here. It’s 9:45 and bed check is at 10.”“You can’t just leave us here tied up like this,” the girl whined.“Don’t worry honey. Your ride’s on the way.”

* * *In the meantime, Big John and Elf were busy setting up their weapon at

the river. Elf opened the ammo crate, pulled out a zucchini and looked up at Big John in bewilderment.“What happened to the potatoes?”“It’s too early for potatoes, so we’ve got to use the zukes,” Big John explained.

Elf began to load the homemade potato gun when Big John stopped him.“No, wait. We need to stuff ‘em first. Hand me a tablespoon of that leftover chili.” He slit the zucchini with his pocket knife, slapped the chili in, then stuffed it into the barrel of the gun. Elf packed the rest of the chili into the other end of the tube.“You got a light Big John? I can’t find my lighter.”“No, I quit smoking.” Big John replied proudly.“Hold on, I’ve got an idea.”

Elf cut a willow branch, tied a piece of string to each end, and set it aside while he carved a point on a dry stick. He split a dry branch for a fire board and began drilling steadily into it.“Hurry Elf, they’re loading the gun now.”“I can’t hurry this. It takes a certain oneness with the wood to bring a little coal to life with a bow drill. It’s an ancient art.”“We don’t have time for art.”

Elf carefully touched the flame from a little stick to the dripping chili at the rear of the tube. The chili ignited with a woosh, throwing Big John down backwards into Elf. The river erupted in a blinding flash of light, cracking the silent darkness with a deafening explosion.“We got it! Elf, their gun is gone.”“Will you get off of me? All I see is mud.”

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* * *The fan in the office merely annoyed the stiff, hot air. The chair Richard

sat in creaked when his relief walked in to work the graveyard shift. “You ok, Richard?” Big John asked.

Richard rubbed remnants of the dream from his eyes.“I can’t see why you care so much,” Big John added.

Richard replied through the lingering dream, “Can you imagine a soldier fighting without a homeland—or a veteran hoping without a home?”

The Shelter Veteran program has been up and running for almost a year. The goal of the program is to empower veterans to live independantly, with dignity. During the past year, we’ve served 10 homeless veterans. Our case manager works individually with each veteran to develop a program that fits their needs.

We connect each veteran with partner organizations throughout the San Luis Valley to help in job training, rehabilitation, assistance with finding work and assistance with veterans benefits. Last month, the American Legion dedicated the flag pole outside the shelter. Each morning the veterans at the shelter raise the American/POW flags. If you know a homeless veteran in need, or wish to aid in the veterans program, please contact Richard Duarte at [email protected].

*Some of our veterans (Calvin at far right) take down the flag


Lance spent part of July in Guatemala studying the history and culture of the Mayan natives.

Isabela is an amazing gem of a person. Her life is an epilogue in the story of the dozens of Guatemalans who, having fled the terror and poverty of the civil war in Guatemala years ago, passed though the doors of La Puente in search of political asylum.

Isabela’s story can be traced back to the early eighties, when a stream of indigenous Maya from Guatemala found their way to Alamosa and La Puente, They were part of a large influx of Guatemalans who made their home in the San Luis Valley during that time period. This unique culture of people have had a distinctive and significant impact in the Valley’s economic and cultural life, with nearly 200 established families making the valley their home. Given La Puente’s history and relationship with members of the Guatemalan community, I wanted to explore with you how they ended up here.

Right from the start, I learned that the Guatemalan Mayas do not want to be referred to as “Hispanic,” as they quickly point out that their roots in Central America go back over 3800 years - millennia before the arrival of Spanish invaders. They prefer to be referred to as “Mayan” or “indigenous.” Within Guatemala, the 8,900,000 Maya are comprised of 21 separate tribes, demarked by both geography and individual Mayan dialects. The largest tribe is the Quiche, numbering 1,255,000.

The Guatemalan Maya of Alamosa are predominantly Q’anjob’al, part of a small tribe (60,000) originating in the Cuchumatan Mountains of a tiny region of northwest Guatemala. The largest town and economic center of the area is Santa Eulalia, located in the heart of the sheer, rugged mountains, over 9 hours from Guatemala’s capital.

The region’s economy is primarily agricultural, with the locals working small plots of land to grow corn and beans. The steep, rocky gardens are

Alamosa’sGuatemalanCommunityLance CheslockExecutive Director

FALL 2011 25

often located miles from inhabited villages, requiring long commutes on foot and rigorous hand labor to work the land. The current field worker’s wage is about one dollar an hour. This is the lot of the majority of the people there because they do not own any land. The poverty is extreme, yet culture and life conditions have formed a group of people with a robust work ethic and tremendous determination to better their lives.

Back in 1980, Guatemala was in her 20th year of a vicious civil war. The indigenous Maya were having the rights to their land stripped from them by the affluent urban elite and the Guatemalan oligarchy. The ensuing clash was a losing battle for the Maya, who had no established system in place to “title” land that they had lived and worked on for dozens of generations, and little means to defend themselves. Altogether, the 36 years of war resulted in over 200,000 casualties and the destruction of over 400 Mayan villages.

The war violence came to a crescendo in the 1970’s, when the Guatemalan military received tens of millions of dollars of weapons and training from the United States. Amnesty International documented thousands of human rights abuses, with over 50,000 Maya killed in that period, mostly civilians. The violence began to

reach deep into Guatemala’s rural highlands where the government sought to purge any community that was suspected of being anti-government or supportive of land reform. In July, 1982, government forces reached the communities surrounding Santa Eulalia, killing hundreds of Maya civilians, wiping out the Q’anjob’al settlements of Puento Alto and Barillos. This led to the exodus of many of those who had survived the government atrocities.

Juana, Isabela’s mother, grew up in Santa Eulalia. She had eloped with her sweetheart Francisco at age 13 after her mother had tried to sell her to another man who was looking for a wife. Soon Juana gave birth to her first born, a boy whom she and Francisco named Richard. Life was difficult for them, given the poverty and limited work in the Santa Eulalia community. Francisco could not make enough to support his new family just farming small plots of corn and wheat on the steep mountain slopes. He left his family behind for more lucrative work at the coffee plantations north of Santa Eulalia.

*The steep slopes of Guatemala


In the months that passed, Juana struggled with the effects of poverty and suffered the loss of their son, Richard, while Francisco was away working. The tragedy deeply affected them. She and Francisco subsequently decided to leave Santa Eulalia, to work alongside one another picking coffee. During that period, their daughter Isabela was born.

The year was 1982, and the civil war arrived at their doorstep. Francisco and Juana heard news of the killings in Puento Alto and Barillos, and learned that government soldiers were on their way to Santa Eulalia. Upon the news, they fled back and joined the community in praying to “Saint” Eulalia for protection. Stories are told of how the soldiers felt a mysterious cloud rushing around them as they marched towards the settlement, and a sense of foreboding warned them not to hurt the inhabitants. Santa Eulalia was indeed spared, and to this day the community celebrates an annual festival in honor of the saint.

With the heat of war around them, and the subsequent strangle of poverty, Juana and Francisco continued to fear for their lives. Feeling there was no other option, Francisco set off on a trek to enter into and cross Mexico, with the hope of securing safety and a job in the United States. His passage took him on foot through the Sonoran desert, passing near Nogales. Throughout his voyage, Francisco had heard of Colorado’s San Luis Valley, and how many who had traveled before him had found work at a mushroom farm. He set his sights northward and continued his strenuous journey.

Exhausted, Francisco made it to Alamosa, and learned of La Puente. After recuperating from his odyssey, and getting outfitted with some clothing and basic necessities, Francisco started work at the Rahkra Mushroom farm. Soon he saved up enough to send for Juana and Isabela. His family was granted amnesty due to the circumstances of the war, and they made their home in Alamosa.

*“Tienda” selling Mayan ceremonial provisions

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Isabela grew up under the influence of her hard-working parents. She labored in the fields at age 11 cutting spinach, learned to drive her father’s truck at age 12, and continued working the spinach harvest to help support her family until she graduated from Alamosa High. Today, Isabela uses her gifts with children and her tri-lingual skills to teach at “Jardin de los Nin” a preschool in Alamosa that is also a welcoming place for other Guatemalan children. Her husband, Mateo, works at the mushroom farm.

The Guatemalan war ended in 1996, when an armistice was signed. The flow of refugees stopped and a good number of Guatemalans returned home. Yet many families who had made their home in Alamosa stayed, and have evolved into a close-knit community. Numerous families still employment at the Rakhra Mushroom Farm. Over the years, Rakhra has grown to deeply appreciate the work ethic and important role the Guatemalan community plays in the success of the farm. Don Clair, an operational manager at Rakhra, told me that the vast majority of their 130 mushroom pickers are from Alamosa’s Guatemalan community. He couldn’t speak highly enough of their sense of community, dedication, and the pride they take in their work. “Indeed,” said Don, “they are one of the greatest assets that Rakhra has.”

It is well known that war spawns homelessness, either with the displacement of people in the specific geography of conflict, or the casualties who return home, like the countless veterans that come to La Puente. Yet, healing comes over time, although sometimes it spans generations.

The Guatemalan community in Alamosa would not be here if it wasn’t for the war. The violence and fear led to a great exodus, and at one point Alamosa struggled under the burden of the displaced refugees. Today, a generation later, the emergent Guatemalan community blesses us with people like Isabela and her family. The warmth and beauty of their culture, the hard work ethic and strong sense of family strengthens us, and is reflective of many other stories of refugees and pilgrims who have enhanced Alamosa and our country.

*Joyful youth of Guatemala


ShelterGrocery Gift CardWork Gloves - Hats

Shampoo - Baby FormulaAluminum foil - Canned goods

MilagrosForks - New front door

Coffee cups - Wireless mousesKeyboards and mouse pads

Hand towels and wash cloths

Rainbows EndMannequins - Clothing Racks

Cash register - Storage containersWalkie talkies or intercom system

community GARdenLarge toolbox - New drip system

Long Hoses - Lumber - Garden Tools

Food BankKid friendly food

Produce of any kindCereal - Gas certificates

Tomato product (diced or sauce)

PALS Childrens ProgramT-shirt Sponsor

Volunteer carpenterFunding for flooringGas Gift Certificates

Sponsors for field trips

Outreach ServicesDesk calendars

Office Supplies - Copy paperNew Scanner - Toner for copier Fax machine - Cleaning supplies

Adelante Family ServicesScanner

Washers and dryers - Gas cardsCopier paper - Hanging file folders

Volunteer Coordination & Community Education

First Aids KitsWeed Eater

Frames for Milagros Art Professional display board

Workgroup tools - Vehicle Safety Kits

Administrative Off iceOffice Supplies

Copy Paper Pens Dry erase markers

Locking file cabinet

Program Needs

*We are also in need of a reliable economy car. If you have one which you would like to donate, please contact us by phone, or e-mail:

(719) 589 - [email protected]

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Everyone has a gift to share... The continuous support that La Puente receives from the extended community is what allows us to continue to serve those in crisis. We are very grateful for the time, money and generous donations that are received from near and far by all. If you are interested in becoming more involved in helping the La Puente community, consider these options.

SecuritiesAny gift of stocks, property, or appreciated securities can be converted

into services that feed and shelter people, and give you a full tax deduction.

Colorado Donors: Get the extra tax credit!The State of Colorado has cut back on many Enterprise Zone Tax

Credits, but La Puente’s 25% tax credit support is still available. Your donation provides you with the traditional Federal and State tax deduction PLUS a 25% Colorado State Tax Credit. For example, if you were to donate $500, to La Puente through the Enterprise Zone, the Federal and Colorado State deductions would reduce your taxes by about $160, and the tax credit would reduce your taxes an addi-tional $125! That’s nearly a $300 return to you for a $500 gift to us!

• Gifts must be at least $100 to qualify• Make checks payable to “Enterprise Zone”• Designate “La Puente” in the lower left-hand corner• Mail it to us in the envelope provided• Upon receipt of your donation, we’ll mail you a receipt!

Please call our main office at 719 589-5909 with questions

Provide Food & Shelter as a LegacyWrite a clause in your will or trust that identifies “La Puente

Home, Inc.” as a beneficiary to any portion of your estate. This is a simple way to arrange for a significant gift in support of our mission, while leaving you in control of your assets during your lifetime.

*Donate online*It’s a safe and easy way to provide for all the people we serve!


As a boy, he pretends to know nothing more than the emotional motives of Freddie Cruger. That and the migrating patterns of imaginary goldfish trapped inside tightly capped mason jars.

With a smooth, unblemished face, nails kept at a hygienic length, and defining, deep red hair, he is, as he proclaims, a “good” Freddie Cruger.

His cereal is good Freddie Cruger food. And his mother and father are good Freddie Cruger people. And he promises, for a majority of the time, to do you no harm.

But today, as I watch him staring into the busy street, his face pressed against the loosely fitted window screen, squashing his nose so that it lies flat above his lips, I’m convinced that he’s praying with his eyes open. Praying, for fear that if they closed, everything would go away.

I imagine that he prays to anything, to anyone because he’s scared. For, as far as I know, the land beyond the screen, the dirt, the cars, the people, the moutains stretching into the sky, are all hes ever known.

And as I watch him, I wonder if, in all his youthful dayreams, he ever thought Freddie Cruger could be scared too.

A Boy’s PrayerDevin Forest CornwallCommunity Education

FALL 2011 31

Prayerof

the Farm Workers’ StruggleShow me the suffering of the most miserable;So I will know my people's plight.Free me to pray for others;For you are present in every person.Help me to take responsibility for my own life;So that I can be free at last. Grant me courage to serve others;For in service there is true life.Give me honesty and patience;So that I can work with other workers.Bring forth song and celebration;So that the spirit will be alive among us.Let the spirit flourish and grow;So we will never tire of the struggle.Let us remember those who have died for justice;For they have given us life.Help us love even those who hate us;So we can change the world.

- Cesar Chavez

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the voice of la puente (fall 2011)

Documents

program needs

vietnamese college students

half week program

grade students

financial gifts

financial dependencies

greatest needs

open classroom