Steel Bender, Canteen join forces to support Agora Crisis Center

In ancient Greece, the agora was a market where people would gather to visit or purchase goods and services.

It was also an area of community, where ideas and thoughts could be shared and heard — not unlike the role filled by breweries today. It only seems fitting, then, that local breweries Steel Bender Brewyard and Canteen Brewhouse are continuing their ongoing collaboration with Agora Crisis Center, which provides emotional support to anyone who might need it.

This year the breweries have partnered to release Open Door IPA, and $1 per pint of that beer sold through March 6 at Steel Bender and both Canteen locations will go to benefit Agora. According to a description of the beer provided by Canteen head brewer Will Moorman, Open Door IPA (7.0% ABV, 80 IBU) is a deep, dark ale with garnet highlights, boasting an aroma of citrus and berry with resinous undertones. Galaxy and Strata hops were used in the boil and dry hop to present a complex palate, complete with a firm bitterness reminiscent of a classic West Coast IPA. The smooth body finishes dry with complementary biscuit malt flavor.

Additionally, there will be Adult Coloring Nights on Thursday, Feb. 12, at both Canteen locations, and Wednesday, Feb. 18, at Steel Bender. At these events, a $10 donation at Agora’s table gets a coloring sheet with seven different designs created by a local artist; $15 gets a pint and a coloring sheet.

“It really helps us reach populations that we wouldn’t have reached otherwise,” Dasie Kent, Agora director, said. “It’s been so wonderful just being able to directly engage with the community in Albuquerque. I think Agora is known in the local mental health field, areas where people are in crisis already. But having this platform with breweries makes it so that people know of us at any time and know that we’re there even when there’s not a crisis.”

The collaboration began in 2019 and originally included High and Dry Brewing as well. With the exception of pauses in 2020 and 2024, the beer release and coloring nights are still going strong due to the efforts of Steel Bender co-owner Shelby Chant and Canteen general manager Jamie Schwebach, who also support Pink Warrior House to promote breast cancer awareness each year. The Agora fundraiser hits especially close to home for Chant.

“My father is a recently retired child and adolescent psychologist with more than 55 years in the field, so from a very early age I understood the importance of nourishing and protecting mental health,” Chant said. “It was normalized to talk about feelings, to ask for help, and to do whatever was necessary to take as much care of mental health as physical health, if not more so.”

The proceeds will go toward a program where Agora visits schools and other businesses to discuss suicide prevention and crisis intervention. The fundraiser will help the organization revamp outreach materials such as flyers, brochures and posters for the initiative.

The term crisis center is a bit of a misnomer for Agora, Kent said, because people don’t necessarily need to be in crisis to reach out for help.

“I love to emphasize that anyone can call us about anything and that they don’t have to be in crisis to call,” she said. “We get plenty of calls from people who just had a rough day at work and need to vent before going home.”

Since the pandemic, the focus on mental health has become more important than ever, and that emphasis has continued to the present day. For some, a visit to a local taproom for a pint and a chance to flash some artistic flair might just be the ideal elixir.

“(Breweries are) places where people naturally come together for connection, conversation, ideas, making plans,” Chant said. “We’ve watched guests make friends here, even get engaged and married here. There’s a sense of comfort and camaraderie, and sometimes someone’s sitting alone with a book or a sketchpad, and they’ve chosen to do that in here, alongside others. Shared space is a big part of what makes these places feel meaningful.”