The New Mexico Interfaith Dialogue will be having a Zoom meeting on Thursday October 19th, 7:00 pm -8:30 pm. Our speakers will be Herman Delgado & Gabriel Saiz. Herman will give an overview of the organization, Thresholds. Gabriel Saiz, who went through the Thresholds program, will be sharing his experiences.

Herman Delgado, LISW, ACSW, CADS

Mr. Herman Delgado, LISW, ACSW, CADS, received his Master of Social Work degree from Columbia University School of Social Work in 1976, reflecting 47 years as a practitioner. He also attended New York University School of Social Work Doctoral Program and is considered ABD. He has extensive experience in the Mental Health and Chemical Dependency fields including private practice, direct service, supervision and consultation, program planning, development, implementation, evaluation, research and training. Mr. Delgado has been a faculty member at various training facilities and Universities and has conducted hundreds of workshops and training seminars. In December 2016 he became the Thresholds Program Mentor Coordinator with the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, Office of Pastoral Outreach. He’s been a Mentor with Thresholds since 2007. The focus of the program is to provide re-entry services to men and women released from incarceration in New Mexico. Mr. Delgado  semi-retired  in June 2016 and is currently a part time Contingent Faculty member at New Mexico Highlands University Fagundo Valdez School of Social Work.

Mr. Delgado was born in New York City from Puerto Rican parents who came to the mainland United States in the 1940’s. He is bilingual and bicultural and maintains close contact with family members living in New York and on the Island.

Gabriel Saiz, Thresholds Mentor

I was born in Albuquerque, NM. This is my life in a nutshell. I come from a middle-class family. I was raised by two loving parents, 2 sisters, and one brother. I went to Catholic School as a kid and had many disciplinary experiences with the Nuns. About the middle of the eighth grade, I got into a fight, and was expelled. Public school was a new start, although the wrong environment for me. Thus, I began to associate with kids my age who knew far more than me. I began smoking weed daily. Inevitably my mother had visited me in every Juvenile facility in the State of NM and so it went. My aspirations to visit the Big House with my buddies came to fruition shortly after turning 18. I spent 22-23 years as an adult in and out of every Prison in NM.

By GODS grace I began to read the History of The Church, written by a Franciscan, I believe. Start from the beginning was my mantra. This opened my mind and heart to Early Christianity and the beginning of Greek philosophy. Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Pindar, Milton, And a myriad of other Classics! Temperance, Fortitude, Justice, Courage. These Principles were foreign to me. God began to 1 give me a squishy heart. Upon release I went to the Archdiocese of Santa Fe and enrolled in the THRESHOLDS PROGRAM. Upon completion, I became a Mentor and work to help men that are coming out of Prison, get acclimated to coming home. Weekly meetings with mentees. I am A proud Graduate of THRESHOLDS. I’m currently blessed to work for the Bernalillo County of NM and am working and studying for my accreditations to work in this field.

By The Grace Of GOD Go I.

If you plan to join this dialogue Zoom call, please register at [email protected] . Please send by October 17th, your name & contact information in which you will be accessing the Zoom link.  The link will be sent to you on October 18th in the evening, the day before the Zoom call.