Community Matters: The Friendship Club
The Friendship Club
Wednesday, October 15, 2025
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On this episode of Community Matters, we’re honored to speak with Sherman Allen, Executive Director of The Friendship Club, the 2025 recipient of the Santa Fe Community Foundation’s Quiet Inspiration Piñon Award. For more than four decades, The Friendship Club has provided a safe and welcoming space for individuals in recovery from alcohol and drug addictions. Today, the Club hosts fifty 12-step meetings each week, produces a podcast with 20,000 listeners worldwide, and offers a hybrid Zoom Room that keeps its community connected while supporting mental, spiritual, and physical well-being.
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About Community Matters
Our monthly radio show invites subject experts and community leaders to talk about the challenges and inequities our region faces and possible solutions that could contribute to its growth. Hosted by Santa Fe Community Foundation staff, Community Matters airs on the third Wednesday of every month at 6:00 PM on KSFR (101.1 FM). Listen to past episodes here.
Community Matters: Amigos Bravos
On this episode of Community Matters, we’re joined by Joseph Zupan, Executive Director of Amigos Bravos, to discuss the vital work of protecting and restoring New Mexico’s rivers and watersheds. A recipient of the Santa Fe Community Foundation’s 2025 Tried & True Piñon Award, Amigos Bravos has spent more than three decades combining hands-on restoration, policy advocacy, and community education to safeguard one of our state’s most precious resources — water. Tune in to hear how their work is shaping a healthier future for New Mexico’s communities and ecosystems.
Community Matters: Sunrise Clinics
On this episode of Community Matters, we’re joined by Dr. Randal Brown, Founder and CEO of Sunrise Clinics, the 2025 recipient of the Santa Fe Community Foundation’s "Resiliency" Piñon Award. Sunrise Clinics strengthens the health and well-being of rural and frontier communities across New Mexico, including Las Vegas, Santa Rosa, Tucumcari, and Raton. By offering comprehensive primary and behavioral health care on a sliding fee scale, Sunrise ensures that no one is turned away due to cost — building resilience and access in places where care is needed most.
Community Matters: Free Flow NM
Free Flow NM, founded in 2020 by Laurie Merrill, combats period poverty and menstrual stigma through large-scale product distribution, innovative programs like Period Pods, and community education across northern New Mexico. Under Laurie’s leadership, the nonprofit has provided over 750,000 menstrual products while reshaping community attitudes toward menstruation with dignity and equity.
