Help for homelessness continues to expand
Caring for those who lack shelter can be a daunting task, but Santa Fe should be proud of several recent developments in expanding services for people without homes. Work to improve and to expand services needs to happen more quickly. The delays can seem endless. But progress is taking place, and it’s important for the community to know what new initiatives are occurring.
The city’s first sanctioned Safe Outdoor Space is nearly ready to open, offering 10 dwellings for people to live outside congregate shelters. Many people living on the streets are uncomfortable in group settings, and these tiny-home programs offer an alternative.
The city of Santa Fe has purchased 25 pallet shelters for its pilot program, but only 10 are up and running. Christ Lutheran Church is hosting the village, with The Life Link operating the site.
There will be shelter but also services to help clients manage behavioral health, find jobs and begin the process of locating permanent housing. The Safe Outdoor Space is somewhere people can be secure, clean and off the streets.
A second new initiative providing greater hygiene access also got its start this week.
The Interfaith Community Shelter at Pete’s Place took on running the mobile hygiene unit purchased by the city, using a $200,000 state grant for operations. The “Showers to Go” initiative goes where people are, with several locations open during the week.
While Pete’s has day hours several times a week when people can shower at the shelter at the corner of Harrison and Cerrillos roads, some individuals do not use services there. The mobile unit expands the opportunity for people to shower off and stay clean.
Placing the mobile unit where other services are available also can help people become motivated to reintegrate with society. At the Healthcare for the Homeless site, individuals can access medical care, including HIV and hepatitis testing.
The Salvation Army just opened a oneday-a-week day resource shelter with the help of volunteers. It’s a promising program we hope gets enough volunteers and financial support to expand, and soon.
The day shelter came out of work by the S3 Santa Fe Housing Initiative Volunteer Committee, which has been working on the project for more than a year. It opened in February, offering people a place to sit in comfort, do laundry, work a puzzle or just rest. As people come off the streets, they can be connected to needed services, including help for their animals or simply getting a haircut.
The goal is to open a day-warming shelter five days a week for winter months. It’s a worthy goal, and all the volunteers who backed it deserve credit for getting the day shelter started. Like all initiatives to help alleviate homelessness in Santa Fe, partnerships across organizations are essential.
Whether at St. Elizabeth Shelters and Supportive Housing, Pete’s Place, The Life Link, the Salvation Army, the Safe Outdoor Space and any and all other places where people without a roof over their heads find respite, it takes cooperation among nonprofits, faith organizations and local governments to make progress.
We can wish — and we do — that progress happens more quickly, but the progress being made is something to celebrate and build upon. Who knows? A permanent day shelter in a building designed to accommodate the needs of people without permanent living quarters could be next. And so on, until all the people who need help have what it takes to live a productive and secure life.