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Christ Lutheran Church hosts Santa Fe 'micro community' of pallet shelters, residents say
Summary
Organizers and residents described a low‑barrier micro community at Christ Lutheran Church in Santa Fe, called the Arroyo Chamizo safe outdoor space, that provides pallet shelters, meeting space, laundry and a dog park and is intended for people who struggle with traditional shelters.
Christ Lutheran Church in Santa Fe is hosting a low‑barrier “micro community” of pallet shelters known as the Arroyo Chamizo safe outdoor space, organizers and residents said. Church leaders offered church property after attending city town‑hall meetings about the pallet‑shelter program in 2023, a church representative said.
The site provides shared meeting space and on‑site services and has been fitted with a laundry room and a dog park, according to site staff. “We can do this,” a church representative recalled members saying when they volunteered to host the shelters.
Nicholas Tharp, a site coordinator who said he works for Lightflank, described the program’s purpose: “What we do here is we, shelter folks that just have a lot of difficulty around other types of shelters for multitude of reasons. We’re a low barrier shelter.” Tharp said his background is in substance‑use counseling, detox and inpatient care.
Raquel Baca Thompson, the site coordinator who serves as the liaison between the host, Christ Lutheran Church, and LifeLink, said the people staying at the site have access to meeting spaces and basic services. She said staff and volunteers built a laundry room and a dog park for residents and that those features allow residents to bring pets and do laundry on site.
Residents who spoke in the meeting described the site as a steppingstone off the street. “It’s a good program,” Enrique McAllen said, adding that he has been at the site about a year and that staff helped him with paperwork and other services. Robert Olivas, who said he has been at the site a little more than two months, said, “It’s like home right now, you know.”
The transcript of the meeting contains no record of a formal city action, motion or vote regarding the site. The remarks recorded were statements by coordinators, church representatives and residents describing the site’s origin, services and their experiences.
The meeting record indicates the site began after church leaders attended 2023 city town halls where a pallet shelter prototype was displayed; the church and volunteer organizations then coordinated with the city and service providers to host the micro community.
