Santa Fe Clubhouse & Wellness Center
The Santa Fe Clubhouse & Wellness Center has a NEW Newsletter. Please take the time to read through it. Thank you!
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Sojourners: Shelter From the Storm
In December, 2007 Lynn Sanchez was living in Santa Fe pursuing her interest in archeology when she stopped by to visit a midwife friend. There she met her friend’s client Janey (not her real name), a young, expecting mother who was sleeping on the Taos mesa in a hole she had dug herself. Janey, who stands 4’11” and weighs 90 lbs, had fashioned a make-shift lean-to over the hole to protect herself from the harsh Taos winter. Regularly, her baby’s father would send his friends to kick down the lean-to in retaliation for leaving him.
Janey’s story led Lynn to learn about the plight of others who are homeless in our community, and became increasingly appalled that human beings are forced to live under such circumstances. Driving around town one day, Lynn spotted an empty storefront on 4th Street and without thinking twice, rented it herself to provide a safe space for Janey and the many others like her. Lynn named the space Sojourners in dedication to all those who seek a warm, caring place as they journey through life’s unfamiliar territory.
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Rachel’s Story: “I Understand What it’s Like to Slip Through the Cracks”
Life is rarely just one thing, but most often a contradictory blend of highs and lows, gifts and challenges. Rachel Timmerman suffered from a multitude of early childhood traumas. She was born to a mother whose drug addiction resulted in incarceration and neglect of her daughter. Yet she was also born with a strong native intelligence and compassionate heart. The story of her life is the interplay between the highs and lows.
Raised in Orlando, FL, from elementary school on Rachel had a desire to work with special needs children. At age 22, had she not previously spent time committed to a residential treatment center and suffered from substance addictions herself, she might have been finishing up college in preparation for a career in her desired field. Instead Rachel worked in bars and tattoo shops, the better to fully immerse herself in the party lifestyle. While enjoying the intimacy of a social scene fueled by drugs and alcohol, she discovered her old dream of working with children was still alive. “Even though I was still using, I knew I wanted to contribute to society, to work at something that would make me feel better about myself.” So after the charismatic manager at the tattoo shop where she worked was killed in a motorcycle accident, Rachel’s tattoo community disintegrated and she decided to revisit her dream. She applied to a school for autistic children and was hired.
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The Santa Fe Clubhouse
“It gives me a reason for getting up in the morning” – clubhouse member
Since opening its doors on September 6, 2011, The Life Link’s new psycho-social rehabilitation facility, the Santa Fe Clubhouse, has welcomed more than 150 clients into its inviting space.
Any client of The Life Link may be a member of this club and is encouraged to participate. The Clubhouse offers a place where members make decisions and offer ideas on the operation of the facility and suggest what kinds of activities they would like to see offered. Each weekday, members arrive, pour themselves cup of coffee or tea, great friends and staff, and have the opportunity to sign up for work that needs to be completed for the day.