FACES & PLACES
The 2018 Distinguished Community Service Award from the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Santa Fe will be presented to Allegra
Love. The congregation chose Love in recognition for her outstanding leadership and commitment in assisting undocumented immigrants in New Mexico and in working toward humane immigration reform. Love is the founder and executive director of the nonprofit Dreamers Project, whose mission is to provide free legal representation to New Mexico’s immigrant community.
The Santa Fe Community Foundation has announced the winners of its 2018 Piñon Awards, recognizing the work of nonprofit organizations and individual philanthropists in the community.
The winners will be honored at a ceremony Oct. 8 at La Fonda on the Plaza and will be given a general operating support grant from the foundation and its partner, Los Alamos National Bank.
The winner of the Courageous Innovation Award is Assistance Dogs of the West. This award honors an organization that uses a bold approach to solve a persistent problem in the community. Assistance Dogs of the West has provided traditional training and matching of assistance dogs to people with physical disabilities, progressive diseases and families with children who have special needs since 1995. In 2011, the organization expanded to include a Courthouse Facility Dog program and Crisis Response Canines. In addition, it began the Warrior Canine Connection, a program that teaches veterans to help train service dogs as part of their therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury.
The Tried & True Award goes to the Museum of New Mexico Foundation.
This award honors an organization that is known for consistent high-quality programming. The Museum of New Mexico Foundation, which provides private support for state-funded museums and historic sites, has steadfastly pursued its mission since 1962.
The Visionary Award winner is the Ohkay Owingeh Housing Authority.
The Visionary Award honors an organization that can anticipate the needs of future generations and has the stamina to achieve success. The Ohkay Owingeh Housing Authority, established in 1997, has been awarded nationwide for its creative housing projects such the Owe’neh Bupingeh Preservation Project. The program has gathered resources to restore 34 homes on the 700-year-old historic pueblo. Through the project, the pueblo is once again a vibrant, thriving residential area.
The Policy Champion Award goes to the Drug Policy Alliance. This award honors an organization that is creating positive social change by focusing on a policy and systems-based approach. The Drug Policy Alliance envisions a society in which the use and regulation of drugs are grounded in science, compassion, health and human rights, and in which people are no longer punished for what they put into their own bodies but only for crimes committed against others.
The Drug Policy Alliance implemented the LEAD program, which assists people who are struggling with substance use disorders and cycling in and out of the criminal justice system. The model calls for trained police officers to identify people who would be arrested for low-level offenses and instead bring them to a communitybased center for acute care, case management and referrals to services.
Bruce and Mary Anne Larson will receive the Philanthropic Leadership Award, which recognizes leaders for their dedication to building healthy and vital communities. Since moving to Santa Fe in 1997, the Larsons have sought to use their philanthropy to promote creative and positive growth within the nonprofits they support.