When on the road we are always looking for good coffee shops. A few years ago we stopped a a shop called Milagros Coffee House in Alamosa Colorado.
Milagros has a pretty standard coffee house menu and great service to g with it. The great thing about Milagros is that it is coffee with a cause. All profits from Milagros support local charities.
The following is a quote from the Milagros Coffee House Reader:
“ In English, Milagros means miracles; and that is truly what it took for us to open and continue this shop. In the early 1990s, the unemployment rate in the San Luis Valley was three times the state average. The minimum wage was severely inadequate to live on and it was an employer’s market, so much so that the local paper went two months without advertising any local employment opportunities. This made it extremely difficult for unskilled workers to gain employment, especially people with a history of homelessness or lack of previous work experience.
In response, to the difficulties that our clients and guests were facing, the La Puente board members sought out a business venue for a job training or employment program. They considered technical training options, but after talking with local business owners, realized that what employers really wanted from a prospective employee was as basic as promptness and interpersonal skills. The idea for a coffeehouse came from customers of Rainbow’s End Thrift Store where the manager had set up a corner for “Tea and Sympathy”-a place for a free cup of tea or coffee and friendly conversation. The Coffeehouse idea was welcomed by the board because of the various skill training provided, such as: punctuality, food service, computer skills and customer service. So they decided to acquire the building attached to Rainbow’s End and open a Coffeehouse (the current location of Hunt Avenue Boutique).
Using donated couches, ovens refrigerator, tables, chairs and assorted mugs, the coffeehouse was on track to open in March of 1998.
Only a month before the scheduled opening, a new health inspector declared the Coffeehouse unfit for business. Commercial appliances, which the new inspector required, would cost La Puente about $10,000. The Board called an emergency meeting and decided that since they had already asked for so many donations to open the Coffeehouse, they simply had no one else to turn to. They agreed to abandon the project and began the arduous process of returning the donated items. The Coffeehouse, they declared, would need a miracle.
Three days later, on Valentine’s Day, 1998, some guests were washing dishes after dinner, and someone turned on the television. The Colorado Lottery was conducting their annual drawing for a nonprofit that had been nominated. To nominate a non-profit one simply wrote the name on the back of their non-winning ticket and mailed it in to the lottery. Due to its large support base, the Salvation Army of Denver had won the prize for several years in a row. 
The announcer drew a ticket out of thousands, and narrowed his eyes as he read, “La Pea-yunta Home? Alamosa.,,” “Where’s that?” he asked someone off camera. The noise of the television was overwhelmed by the cheers of guests and workers at the shelter. “We won!?” they all shouted. A volunteer ran to phone the director to give him the good news. ,’, Turns out, a former guest at La Puente had moved to Denver for a job a while back. He had been collecting his “losing” lottery tickets to send in with La Puente’s name for this drawing. With the drawing of his ticket, he won $1000, and La Puente was awarded exactly $10,000! The much-needed miracle had occurred, and shortly thereafter, “Milagros” opened its doors.
Although Milagros had a happy home attached to Rainbow’s End Thrift Store, a prime retail space opened up on the corner of State and Main. The generosity of the building’s new owner made it possible for Milagros to move in at an affordable rate. Since then Milagros has been remodeled and is now recognized as an integral part of the Alamosa community and a great spot for lunch!”
So if you are traveling through Alamosa and want coffee with a cause, Milagros Coffee house is the place to stop. You can pickup breakfast or lunch and hang out with the Alamosa Locals.
Milagros Coffee House is located at 529 Main Street in Alamosa.