Mission Trip
2012/13 La Puente Multigenerational Mission Trip
What: “La Puente (the bridge),
“ http://www.lapuente.net/index.php
Where: Alamosa, CO
When: June 10-14, 2013 (we will also go the following week if we have more than 12 participants by June1, 2012)
Who: BVUUF rising 9th-12th graders for summer 2013 and adults (youth over 18 yrs. will be considered adults), maximum 12 participants total.
How much: Adults – $400, Youth raise their fee through fundraisers. Fee includes lodging at a local church, all meals and transportation.
Click here to download the Application Form.
Our second Mission Trip was chosen because it fit our criteria for an organization that sees service as a way to complete ourselves. La Puente is also “local” to us, as we learn about the lives of those in our own state. This fits our desire to alternate a local and an international Mission Trip. In addition, many of the migrant workers come from the mountains of Guatemala, in a serendipitous connection to our 2011 Mission Trip to build a school in Guatemala.
History
The project began in 1982 as a response to the San Luis Valley community’s need to house and provide assistance to a number of homeless and under-served families and individuals in the Valley. Originally operated through a local Catholic church, La Puente began as a homeless shelter in the church’s basement. During the late 1980’s they hired a director for the program, and La Puente became an independent organization. Throughout the late 1980s and the 1990s La Puente Home expanded to provide a variety of services needed by the San Luis Valley community.
For example in 1991, La Puente began the Adelante Family Self-Sufficiency Program, the first rural transitional housing program in Colorado. La Puente Enterprises also grew as a means to provide revenue to support La Puente’s programs. Since 2000, the organization has doubled the size of the shelter in order to serve the increasing needs of the growing community. Today La Puente is a multi-faceted organization comprised of a dedicated staff and numerous full-time volunteers that devote a full year service to the mission of La Puente.
Our Mission
La Puente is a 501©(3) nonprofit organization serving Colorado’s San Luis Valley by providing food, shelter, and advocacy for the homeless and community members in crisis. La Puente endeavors to meet immediate needs and to empower people to live independently with dignity.
Our Community
Alamosa, home of La Puente, is located at 7,500 feet at the center of the San Luis Valley, the world’s largest alpine valley. The Valley is larger than the state of Connecticut, and it is home to thirty-five communities within the boundaries of Alamosa, Conejos, Costilla, Mineral, Rio Grande, and Saguache counties.
As of 2009, the U.S. Census estimated that the Valley has a population of 46,006 residents. 20.5% of the Valley’s residents lived below the poverty line compared to the state average of 11.2% in 2008. 31.8% of children living in the Valley live in poverty compared to the state average of 17%. The median household income in 2008 was $34,597 for the San Luis Valley, as compared to $55,184 for Colorado as a whole.
Economically the San Luis Valley is fueled primarily by agriculture. Each year the Valley is one of the largest potato growing regions in the world, and lettuce, barley, carrots, and alfalfa are also prevalent in the fields. The seasonal need for farm labor draws migrant workers from across Latin America. This influx of workers creates an added dimension to the mission of La Puente.