ALAMOSA — In a major change for one of the largest and oldest non-profits in the San Luis Valley, Lance Cheslock – Chief Executive Director for La Puente – will be transitioning from his role at the helm of the organization to a more supportive role, making way for a new Chief Executive Director to lead. A search is currently on for a new CEO, who is scheduled to start in March of 2026.

Cheslock, who’s been with La Puente since 1989, emphasized that this is a transition and does not signal his retirement from the non-profit.

“My 36 years at La Puente have been transformative, invigorating, and life giving,” Cheslock wrote in an email to the Valley Courier. “I’ve met amazing people along the way, both those I have served with and those that we, together, have served.”

Cheslock’s new role will focus on facility support, donor engagement, mentoring, and ensuring the continuance of the Homeless contribution Tax Credit. When asked, how much longer does he see himself continuing to be involved at La Puente, Cheslock said, “I hope to be there until I’m 70, but only if I’m truly helping and advancing the mission.”

Under Cheslock’s leadership, La Puente’s impact extended far beyond the San Luis Valley as keystone legislation - Enterprise Zone Homeless Contribution Tax Credit – was actually crafted in “La Puente’s back yard.”

As described on its website, La Puente's shelter first opened its doors in 1982 as a response to the community’s need to house and assist the homeless and under-served families and individuals in rural Colorado.

Originally operating through a local Catholic church, La Puente began as a homeless shelter in the church’s basement. In the early 1980s, La Puente bought and renovated it and hired a director for the program, also becoming an independent organization in the process.

Over the years that followed, La Puente expanded its programming in response to a growing number of other community needs. In the year 2000, La Puente's shelter underwent significant renovations, doubling its size to meet the increasing needs of the growing community.

Today, La Puente is one of the largest human service providers in rural Southern Colorado. Annually over 12,000 individuals and family members receive assistance by at least one of La Puente's services including emergency shelter, nutritious food from one of fifteen food pantries, housing with support services, after-school youth-stabilization programming, educational gardening, crisis prevention resources, soup kitchen meals, home outreach visits, and more.