Two organizations committed to providing hot meals and warm beds to homeless people in Santa Fe are at odds over who can do it better.

The spat between St. Elizabeth Shelter and the Interfaith Community Shelter Group surfaced publicly after the City Council allocated $50,000 to the faith group to operate an emergency shelter next winter.

St. Elizabeth Director Deborah Tang and supporters of the 23-year-old organization believe it was not given proper credit for its role in the shelter's success in news reports, which focused on the contributions of the hundreds of volunteers from faith communities.

In a letter to two councilors, St. Elizabeth board member Donna Lynch wrote, "I am alarmed ... that the council would consider granting the $50,000 allocation for the Winter Overflow Shelter to a group of our inexperienced volunteers."

In another letter urging the council to reconsider, Steven Spencer, who describes himself as a concerned citizen, said the interfaith group deserves "commendation" for its efforts, but "St. Elizabeth is the organization this community supports and relies on to provide programs and services to our homeless."

St. Elizabeth has run a winter overflow shelter operation for the last 12 years.

Last year, the two groups signed a partnership agreement to provide emergency services to homeless individuals and families at a facility at 1601 St. Michael's Drive.

Under the agreement, the faith group agreed to recruit volunteers to check guests into the shelter and serve them dinner between 5:30 and 9 p.m. every day from Nov. 2 to April 25.

According to its own records, the emergency shelter provided more than 10,000 bed nights to more than 650 men, women and children who might otherwise have slept in cars or in arroyos around the city.

St. Elizabeth agreed to supply the professional staffing, supervision and liability insurance for the shelter. It was in charge of employing the overnight staff who worked between 9 p.m., when the volunteers departed, and 7 a.m., when the guests were required to leave. As the fiscal agent for the shelter, St. Elizabeth also signed the lease on the property, was accountable for all grants, including $60,000 from the city, and helped raise the other $100,000 needed to operate the facility.

Tang said she is frustrated by the way the faith group has represented its role in the operation of the shelter. "I had no idea it was going to be so blown out of proportion when I asked the faith community to help with the winter shelter," she said. "I asked for help so we could do a better job of providing services to the homeless."

Over the winter, there were ongoing differences between the groups about issues such as admitting guests who had been drinking alcohol and whether to allow homeless people to store possessions at the facility while they were trying to find jobs during the day. The shelter group said their volunteers didn't receive the training they were promised and that there were issues with the paid staff that were not properly addressed.

Representatives from both groups attended a meeting with the city's Community Services Director Terrie Rodriguez in April, but the problems were not solved. The rift between them widened when the Interfaith Community Shelter Group decided to incorporate and affiliate with another nonprofit, Faith at Work, which will serve as its fiscal agent, provide liability insurance and maintain contracts with paid staff.

Rodriguez was not available to comment Wednesday.

Susan Odiseos, a member of the new board, said the missions of the two groups are different. The faith group is seeking to provide winter shelter only, and, unlike St. Elizabeth, it sets no limit on the number of nights guests may stay at the shelter. St. Elizabeth provides emergency shelter — up to 30 days — and an array of other social services to help people get back on their feet.

"We don't pretend to be professionals," Odiseos said. "What we are is a group of committed members of faith communities serving the homeless."

But the board members, she said, have management backgrounds and experience in organizations that serve the homeless in Texas, Illinois, New York, Oregon and California, among other places.

Many of the volunteers also cook and serve meals at St. Elizabeth on a regular basis, and their congregations make regular donations to the St. Elizabeth programs.

In its first year, churches and synagogues in the shelter group took turns hosting homeless women and children in their own facilities, while men continued to be served at the Salvation Army.

A city-organized meeting for all players is being planned for August to ensure that shelter needs are met next winter.

"There is enough work for everyone in serving the homeless," Odiseos said. "And their numbers are likely to increase."

Contact Anne Constable at 986-3022 or aconstable@sfnewmexican.com.