ST. MARTIN'S HOSPITALITY CENTER

St. Martin's Hospitality Center is one of New Mexico's largest multi-program providers of services for the homeless. Founded in 1985 by volunteers from local Episcopal churches, the agency is now a private, nonsectarian 501(c)3 organization that partners with community, municipal, state, and federal agencies in pursuit of its mission: "to assist homeless and near-homeless people by providing resources, opportunities, and hope."

St. Martin's Hospitality Center recognizes that responding to the most basic human needs is a crucial starting point for comprehensive service and treatment, and that continuing attention to the client's perception of those needs is crucial to maintaining treatment engagement. We have discovered that an individual's greatest resources are their own skills and strengths; their greatest opportunity, that of integration in the community; and their greatest hope, the freedom to choose their own path.

We have developed a fierce commitment to the treatment philosophy that "we serve our clients best when we provide a continuum of support that facilitates Competency and Connection through Empowerment, Self-Determination, and Community Integration." This commitment means that, at every level of service, in psychiatric care, case management, and even in substance abuse treatment, our objective is to focus on the client's own concerns, goals, and strengths, rather than on pre-determined goals established by the agency or an agency program. It is not sufficient for our clients to become "ex-homeless," "ex-addicts," "rehabilitated," or "formerly destitute." If our clients are to become full citizens and members of the community, they must create lives of sufficiency, well-being, and personally meaningful contribution.

St. Martin's is unique in the Albuquerque area for the breadth of its programming offered to meet the needs of homeless individuals and families. The services and programs provided stress flexibility, accessibility, and comprehensive care, the qualities necessary to assist individuals and families out of homelessness.