
Media
by EDUCO
Read about our impact, recent successes, and how we are making a difference with and in the lives of returning citizens, as well as healing neighborhoods throughout the country.
Press Releases
URBAN ALCHEMY ANNOUNCES NEW STUDY ON SAFER NEIGHBORHOODS IN EAST AUSTIN
Urban Alchemy, a San-Francisco based nonprofit that employs citizens returning from incarceration to help heal cities and neighborhoods, is undertaking a landmark study to reduce nonviolent crime in Central East Austin.
The City of Birmingham Taps Urban Alchemy to Manage a Community-Based Public Safety Program
The City of Birmingham has selected California-based organization Urban Alchemy to lead a new program focused on serving unhoused residents in crisis.
Urban Alchemy Welcomes New CFO: Melek Totah
Urban Alchemy has hired Melek Totah as its new chief financial officer. She brings more than 20 years of experience working with nonprofits and publicly traded companies to manage and improve their financial controls and processes.
Urban Alchemy Hires Dr. Lisa De La Rue as Director of Training
Urban Alchemy is announcing that it has hired Dr. Lisa De La Rue to serve as Director of Training. Dr. De La Rue, who holds a PhD in counseling psychology, will be the first person to fulfill this important role.
Mayor London Breed, Stanford Researchers, and Urban Alchemy Announce 52% Decrease in Crime Rates in Ambassador-served Areas
Mayor London Breed, Urban Alchemy, Stanford researchers and community members celebrated the drop in crime in the Urban-Alchemy-served neighborhoods of San Francisco, which was showcased in the results of a new Stanford University study.
In the News
Certificate of Honor from Mayor Lurie
We’re proud to share that SF HEART has been recognized with a Certificate of Honor from Mayor Lurie for the successful completion of the first phase of the City’s Recreational Vehicle/Large Vehicle Permit Operations program. This effort focused on helping residents living in RVs purchase their vehicles and transition toward stable housing — a crucial step in preserving dignity and…
Shelters are one of the most contentious topics in the homeless services sector, but Urban Alchemy is changing the paradigm
Cities and community groups are piloting new designs — wellness-focused campuses, intentional communities and policy shifts — to address the failures of the traditional shelter system.
Construction to begin on phase one of the Home For All microshelter pilot program
Construction will begin on phase one of the City of Birmingham’s Home For All microshelter pilot program, an initiative designed to provide safe, dignified shelter and wraparound services for several of the city’s unhoused residents. The $2.4 million project is scheduled to have construction completed by the end of the year.
‘Conversations Different’: Urban Alchemy’s Mike Anderer discusses takeover of former Interfaith Community Shelter at Pete’s Place
Santa Fe’s emergency shelter, formally known as the Interfaith Community Shelter at Pete’s Place, has been in the headlines the past few months after city councilors voted to end a month-to-month contract with the nonprofit, which had provided an array of services to area homeless people for decades.
Downtown ‘Oasis’ for Austin’s unhoused celebrates one year of service
This month marks one year since the opening of Urban Alchemy’s Oasis, a downtown refuge for Austin’s unhoused.
According to a World Health Organization report, heat is to blame for more deaths than any other extreme weather. It can be particularly dangerous for the unhoused. The heat killed nearly two dozen people experiencing homelessness between 2018 and 2023, according to…
Urban Alchemy launches Santa Fe street outreach team along Cerrillos Road, downtown area
Workers in bright green vests will be popping up this week around Santa Fe’s Cerrillos Road corridor and in the downtown area.
They aren’t doing construction or directing traffic — rather, the workers were hired to provide services to homeless residents.
Austin’s Eighth Street Women’s Shelter Earns Community Equity and Inclusion Award for Outstanding Support to Marginalized Groups
The recent acclaim garnered by the City of Austin’s Eighth Street Women’s Shelter serves as a beacon, illuminating the path toward more equitable and inclusive support systems for marginalized communities. In a commendable achievement, the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) honored the shelter with a Community Equity and Inclusion Award.
New operator to take over Pete’s Place in Santa Fe starting in August
After revoking long-time Santa Fe homeless shelter Pete’s Place’s lease, the city is now counting down the days for a new out-of-state operator to take over. The California non-profit Urban Alchemy is preparing to run the roughly 75-bed shelter starting on August 1.
WOMEN+POWER: Dr. Lena Miller of Urban Alchemy
As a species, we are awakening to the pain from which births our unified consciousness, to the evolution of the collective higher sense which empowers our neurological pathways for quantum activism. There is a clear connection calling us all, to rise upright from the pain as we invoke the sacred fire that illumines our collective heart-sense: the eternal torch that…
City now running Southwest Portland tiny home village with Urban Alchemy as provider
The city of Portland is now operating one of the city’s first outdoor homeless shelter villages, taking the reins from a local nonprofit and handing them to its favorite out-of-state provider.
In April, Portland-based Sunstone Way found out that California-based group Urban Alchemy was coming in to take over operations…
‘Oasis’ coming to San Francisco’s troubled 6th St. Will it help?
Tenderloin residents say that the “urban oasis” model San Francisco city officials now want to develop at the former “triage center” at Sixth and Stevenson streets, an area known as an epicenter of drug activity, has worked before.
2025 Men of Excellence Honoree: Bayron Wilson
Bayron Wilson oversees all Urban Alchemy services, including negotiating contracts, representing the organization at meetings, coaching managers, and supporting employees. With over 15 years of experience helping formerly incarcerated individuals re-enter the workforce, he has managed nonprofit organizations focused on creating employment opportunities for those facing barriers.
