Let us honor what sustains us: Our nonprofits

'My View' by Christopher Goett, MSW

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Every year for the past 39 years, the Santa Fe Community Foundation has gathered with friends, partners, and neighbors to honor excellence in northern New Mexico’s nonprofit sector at the Piñon Awards. It’s always one of the most moving evenings of our year — an opportunity to pause and recognize the people and organizations that strengthen the fabric of our region in ways both visible and unseen.

This year, that celebration feels especially urgent.

Across New Mexico, nonprofits are facing unprecedented challenges — a reality underscored in a report we commissioned earlier this year on the impacts of federal funding shifts and in a recent story by The New York Times. With federal support in flux, many of our grantees are experiencing delays, cuts, or uncertainty in the resources they rely on to provide critical services. For nonprofits that serve rural, tribal, and immigrant communities, where federal dollars have provided substantial support in recent years, this moment is especially precarious.

And yet, in the face of uncertainty, nonprofits continue to show up. They keep food pantries stocked, care for our elders, support recovery, protect our environment, nurture the arts, and provide healthcare in communities that would otherwise go without. They remind us that resilience is not abstract — it’s lived out daily in acts of service, compassion, and creativity.

The Piñon Awards, now in its 39th year, shine a light on that perseverance. This year’s honorees exemplify the best of northern New Mexico’s nonprofit sector. Free Flow NM is courageously tackling period poverty and stigma by distributing menstrual products and education. The Friendship Club offers a supportive community for individuals in recovery, creating a space where healing and connection flourish. Sunrise Clinics delivers primary and behavioral healthcare to rural communities, living their mission of “exceptional care without exception.” Amigos Bravos has, for nearly four decades, worked to protect and restore New Mexico’s rivers and watersheds — an essential resource for generations to come.

Can you imagine life in northern New Mexico without these services? At the Santa Fe Community Foundation, we believe philanthropy has a responsibility to stand with nonprofits in both celebration and solidarity. That means showing gratitude for their work while also advocating for the resources and stability they need to thrive. It means not only making grants but creating spaces — like the Piñon Awards — where our community can come together to bear witness to their impact.

This year, 137 people wrote heartfelt letters in support of nonprofits across northern New Mexico. That record-breaking outpouring of appreciation demonstrates how deeply these organizations are woven into the life of our region.  

As we prepare to gather on October 7 at La Fonda on the Plaza, I invite our neighbors across northern New Mexico to join us — not just for an evening of celebration, but as an act of support for the nonprofits that sustain us all. Tickets are now on sale at santafecf.org. By attending, by giving, by listening and recounting their stories, we can ensure that these vital organizations feel the strength of the community behind them.

In a time of uncertainty, it is more important than ever to shine light on what is steady, reliable, and true. Our nonprofits embody those qualities. The Piñon Awards are our way of saying: we see you, we thank you, and we stand with you.

Christopher Goett, MSW, is president and CEO of the Santa Fe Community Foundation.