Homeless shelter needs to stay on ABQ’s front burner

For years, the Albuquerque-Bernalillo County area has lacked a place — other than emergency rooms or jail — where first responders can take homeless individuals in crisis.

We have limited shelter beds. Some for just men. Or just women. Or just families. Most won’t allow someone who’s intoxicated or high or in the throes of a behavioral health episode. Many won’t accept pets, which often provide emotional support for this population. And none operate 24/7.

Now the city’s plan for a 300-bed, $14 million taxpayerfunded low-barrier shelter appears permanently shelved — first University of New Mexico President Garnett Stokes took the school’s vacant land near I-25 and Lomas out of the equation, then Bernalillo County officials made it clear they preferred a multi-site approach. And that means status quo for the immediate future.

It means the 5,000 or so homeless people in our community will continue to make do on the streets or stay at taxpayer expense in some of the most expensive rooms in town — ERs and the Metropolitan Detention Center.

It is heartening Mayor Tim Keller says this “regrouping phase ... is in many ways better with an eye toward a comprehensive solution and with an eye toward collaboration.” But it is a phase that should be expedited, especially given the extensive experience of stakeholders and the heavy lifting of the original incarnation of his Gateway Center.

On March 6, the Journal Editorial Board wrote “cooperation among the various entities is crucial if the shelter – one that will take all comers regardless of gender, age, sobriety, pets, belongings and religious faith or lack thereof – is to meet its projected timeline of a 2021 groundbreaking and 2022 opening.” The editorial commended UNM Hospital’s psychiatric expertise and work with the homeless population, as well as Bernalillo County’s experience putting together multiple transitional housing projects, work with service providers and dedicated $20 million annual behavioral health tax funding stream.

But the city has a 450-bed emergency shelter west of town, a housing voucher program, $14 million from city taxpayers for a new 24/7 shelter, an architect on contract since December and two vetted sites still in the mix. It should continue to take the lead in moving a plan forward — with necessary adjustments.

The two sites are the old Lovelace Hospital and the blighted Coronado Park. The hospital is even more viable given it just got millions of dollars in upgrades to treat COVID-19 and has yet to get a single patient; the park desperately needs a makeover that removes the tent city and discarded drug paraphernalia that put long-suffering neighbors on edge and at risk.

The driving need for a 24/7 low-barrier shelter remains. The input the city received on the two remaining sites should be evaluated and addressed, especially given the experience of UNMH, the county and the city with the homeless and these neighborhoods. The planned UNMH/ BernCo crisis triage center/psychiatric hospital needs to be part of the focus as many clients will likely need its services

the shelter, and co-location/close proximity would be optimal.

The work to provide a central intake that connects individuals with appropriate services and restricts ingress and egress for community safety should be preserved.

And the original timeline, while understandably in flux because of the pandemic and switch to multiple sites, should remain a goal. The economic wreckage this virus and resulting closures have wrought will undoubtedly increase the need for homeless and crisis services. These people don’t need another blue-ribbon panel or task force; they, like the 5,000-or-so now living on our streets, need a place to safely rest their heads and get the services required to put their lives back together.