HEART of Taos struggles
HEART of Taos founder and board president Kathryn Herman welcomes guests Dec. 7 during the nonprofit’s third annual holiday benefit at Old Martina’s Hall in Ranchos de Taos. HEART of Taos launched in 2016 to help homeless women and children with services, housing and emergency shelter. The nonprofit, like many new organizations, has struggled to find its footing, losing an executive director in mid-2018 while in the midst of renovating a residence that was to become Taos’s first shelter and transitional home for women and children.
Despite the challenges, HEART of Taos has provided rent vouchers, caseworkers and emergency shelter – working with the Taos Motel – to hundreds of women and children.
With a new executive director, Kim Park, in place, the group plans to make headway on several programs.
HEART of Taos, supported completely by community donations, opened a central office on Paseo del Pueblo Sur for limited hours Tuesday thru Friday. Park said they help between 6 and 15 women a day. “There’s been an uptick,” she said.
They work with other groups in town – Las Cumbres, DreamTree and Communities Against Violence – to help families get back on their feet and keep a roof over their heads.
Ultimately, the goal this year is to get the HEART House open. First, Park said, she has to figure out how to stabilize the nonprofit’s finances so it can continue helping families. “The need is there,” she said.