With the Fall and Winter months now here, along with significant drops in temperatures, the City of Albuquerque is preparing to help the unhoused with shelter and keep them safe. At a November 1 press conference, Mayor Tim Keller and City leaders outlined their plans for cold weather to get the unhoused into shelters.
As part of the Metro Homelessness Initiative (MHI), the City created a new “Shelter Connect Dashboard” to help connect people experiencing homelessness to get into shelters. The push to connect people with shelters and resources during the winter months is a joint effort between the Albuquerque Community Safety (ACS) Department, the Albuquerque Fire Rescue Department (AFRD) and the Health, Housing, and Homelessness Department (HHHD).
The Shelter Connect Dashboard is an online program that provides a city map with the locations of all 9 city shelters operated by the city itself or operated with a city partner as well as the 2 private charitable shelters. For each shelter, the Shelter Connect Dashboard lists the total number of beds at the shelter, the current occupancy level, the total number occupied and available beds and the breakdown of beds available for male, female and couple occupancy.
The 9 City Shelters operated by the city itself or with partners are:
- The Gateway West (the renovated Westside Jail): 630 Total Beds.
- The Gibson Gateway Center (the remodeled Lovelace Hospital): 50 total beds.
- The Family Gateway Center: 65 total beds.
- Berrett Foundation: 19 total beds.
- Good Shepherd: 35 total beds.
- HH – Albuquerque Opportunity Center: 57 beds.
- Safe House: 50 beds.
- YDI Amistad:16 beds.
- Gateway First Responder Receiving Area: 10 beds.
TOTAL: 932
The two private charitable organization run shelters are:
- Joy Junction: 290 beds.
- Steel Bridge: 77 beds
TOTAL: 367
COMBINED TOTAL: 1,299
City officials claim that there are 5,000 people without shelter in Albuquerque. The total number of beds featured on the dashboard is 1,299. The city of Albuquerque is hoping the dashboard’s guidance will help keep some of the city’s estimated 5,000 unhoused residents off the street during difficult winter nights. As of November 14, the dashboard listed 250 available beds out of 1,284 total beds with 1,034 beds occupied.
The link to Shelter Connect Dashboard providing current occupancy and availability of beds is here:
https://www.arcgis.com/apps/dashboards/417f1dfbbecf48a5a4efc2ac114591c5
The new Shelter Connect Dashboard will show first responders where shelter beds are available throughout the city. The City says it will add winter sheltering capacity at Gateway West and the First Responder Receiving Area if additional beds are needed. The City says it will provide a warm bed to anyone experiencing homelessness.
To help get people inside, Albuquerque Community Safety (ACS) Department will operate its emergency, after-hours transportation service. Between 8 p.m. and 7 a.m., the public can call (505) 418-6178 to request transportation. ACS will give people a ride to the First Responder Receiving Area at the Gateway Center to have a warm bed for the night. Folks will then get connected to longer-term shelter and services.
OUTDOOR FIRES
Throughout the winter months, there is an increase in dangerous outdoor fires started by the homeless. To mitigate the risk to life and property, AFR’s Outside Fire Response Truck will begin operations this month, much earlier than past years. When Firefighters extinguish campfires, people will be offered connection to shelter through ACS. For anyone who wishes to remain outdoors, this year, the Outside Fire Response Team will be equipped with blankets and coats to distribute to individuals. AFR encourages anyone who sees fire activity to call 911.
Deputy Fire Chief Jimmy Melek said this:
“Outside temperatures are dropping, and AFR crews are already starting to see an increase in the number of outside fires. … Preparations are already underway to get our outside fire response truck in service. It is expected to be in service in the next few weeks. Last year the truck responded to over 1700 outside fire calls from late December through mid-April.”
During the November 1 news conference, Fire Rescue Chief Emily Jaramillo encouraged residents to call about any outdoor fires and said this:
“We have a directive that we extinguish every outside fire that we respond to, and that can be a challenge for firefighters, because firefighters are also very compassionate folks, and so when it’s really cold outside and we’re asking or we’re extinguishing a fire that’s being used to warm. …This is why we’re very excited that we now have our sister department, ACS, that we can call out, and they can provide transport to shelter for those individuals that can no longer stay warm.”
AFRD will also pass out jackets or blankets to unhoused residents whose fires it extinguishes. Anyone who has donations can call 505-768-2860 to schedule a pickup or drop-off time.
The link to the quoted and relied upon news sources are here:
https://www.cabq.gov/health-housing-homelessness/news/winter-is-coming-and-city-is-ready-to-help-1
KELLER ADMINISTRATION ELABERATES ON EFFORTS
Mayor Tim Keller said this at the press conference:
“[The Shelter Connect Dashboard] does not necessarily include every private shelter. We acknowledge that, but these are the ones that we’re tracking. And as you can see … we have some beds available, so we’re gonna be using that to determine whether or not we need to do literal emergency shelters and community centers”.
“I just want to be really clear for the public and …there’s a bed available for people to sleep. They do not have to be on the street. Now we understand they may make choices — that’s a different thing — but that bed is available. … They do not have to be on the street.”
Health, Housing, and Homelessness Director Gilbert Ramirez said this about the Dashboard:
“A couple of things I really wanted to make sure happened this year is that we had an outward-facing document to the public that you’re going to see here that’s on our webpage that shows what is our plan and how are we doing that integrating new services that came online this year. We’re definitely leveraging our ability to use technology.”
“We are committed to minimizing health risks and providing critical sheltering resources to our community’s most vulnerable during extreme cold. Through our plan and protocols, we are prepared to provide an appropriate response that meets the needs of our unsheltered community.”
Albuquerque Community Safety Director Jodie Esquibel said this in a statement:
“ACS is committed to ensuring that no one is left out in the cold. Our team is on the ground, ready to transport those in need to a safe place, no matter the hour. This is a critical part of our mission to provide compassionate, community-centered care during the harshest conditions.”
OTHERS REACT
Anami Dass, a local human rights advocate, hopes that the changes to the city’s winter procedures are followed by all the involved departments. Dass said this:
“Last winter the city removed thousands of encampments during the sweeps, meaning that the city confiscated their tents, coats, sleeping bags, along with everything else. … This year, AFR, HHH, ACS, and Animal Welfare will be stepping up to do right by people experiencing homelessness. Hopefully Solid Waste, APD, and Metro/Transit Security see that and follow their lead. … I’d hate to see AFR’s hard work go to waste because another department decides to throw everything away.”
Christine Barber, executive director of AsUR, an advocacy group for women living on the streets, doesn’t think the added dashboard does enough. Barber pointed out that two of the shelters listed, Good Shepherd and Albuquerque Opportunity Center, are male-only shelters, that Safe House is only for domestic violence survivors and that other shelters listed are not set up to be emergency shelters. Barber said this:
“This whole thing is, it’s all a shadow game; it’s very misleading. It’s very confusing. …Nothing has changed. It’s still exactly as it was. And all of these places, you still have to get a referral. This is not a thing that is as simple as they’re making it.”
Three of the nine shelters listed, the Gateway First Responder Receiving Area, the Family Gateway and the Gateway West, are part of the city’s Gateway system of shelters and services. Gateway West has the most available beds and has undergone some recent renovations.
However, Barber doubts that Gateway West, a shelter 30 minutes by car from the city’s core, where the dashboard listed 97 of the 265 available beds Friday, is safe despite the Keller and Ramirez saying that it now is. Barber said this:
“This isn’t a place that anybody wants to stay, so I’m really confused about all of this. To tell you the truth, I think that there’s a lot of questions that need to be answered about the dashboard and about exactly what’s happening with sites.”
ALBUQUERQUE UNSHELTERED DATA BREAKDOWN
Mayor Tim Keller and City officials repeatedly say the city has 5,000 homeless but never fully articulate sources for the statistics. The blunt reality is there is an embellishment of the figures by more than doubling an official count by Keller and city officials.
On July 31, the New Mexico Coalition to End Homelessness released the 2024 Point-In-Time (PIT) Report for the numbers of unhoused in Albuquerque and in the balance of the state. The PIT count is the official number of homeless reported by communities to the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to receive federal funding and to help understand the extent of homelessness at the city, state, regional and national levels.
The raw data breakdown of Albuquerque’s homeless contained in the 2023 Point In Time Survey is as follows:
HOUSEHOLDS COUNTED IN ALBUQUERQUE
The total count of HOUSEHOLDS experiencing homelessness in Albuquerque on January 29, 2024 was 2,248. (Households include those with or without children or only children.) The breakdown is as follows:
- Emergency Shelters: 1,018
- Transitional Housing: 174
- Unsheltered: 1,056
TOTAL HOUSEHOLDS: 2,248
PERSONS COUNTED IN ALBUQUERQUE
The total count of PERSONS experiencing homelessness in Albuquerque on January 29, 2024 was 2,740 broken down in 3 categories.
- Emergency Shelters: 1,289
- Transitional Housing: 220
- Unsheltered: 1,231
TOTAL PERSONS: 2,740
ALBUQUERQUE’S 2009 TO 2024 STATISTICS
Total number of PEOPLE counted during the Albuquerque Point-in-Time counts from 2009 to 2024 to establish a graphic trend line for the period are as follows:
- 2009: 2,002
- 2011: 1,639
- 2013: 1,171
- 2015: 1,287
- 2017: 1,318
- 2019: 1,524
- 2021: 1,567
- 2022: 1,311
- 2023: 2,394
- 2024: 2,740
HISTORY OF ALBUQUERQUE’S EMERGENCY SHELTER COUNT
The 2024 PIT report contains the count of the number of people residing in EMERGENCY SHELTER in Albuquerque during the PIT Counts for the years 2011-2024. Following are those numbers:
- 2011: 658
- 2012: 621
- 2013: 619
- 2014: 614
- 2015: 659
- 2016: 674
- 2017: 706
- 2018: 711
- 2019: 735
- 2020: 808
- 2021: 940
- 2022: 940
- 2023: 1,125
- 2024: 1,289
The link to review the entire 62-page 2024 PIT report is here:
https://www.nmceh.org/_files/ugd/ad7ad8_4e2a2906787e4ca19853b9c7945a4dc9
CITY’S FINANCIAL COMMITMENT TO THE UNHOUSED
Originally, it was the city’s Family Community Services Department (FCS) Department that provided assistance to the homeless. In fiscal year 2021-2022, the department spent $35,145,851 on homeless initiatives. In 2022-2023 fiscal year the department spent $59,498,915 on homeless initiatives. On June 23, 2022 Mayor Tim Keller announced that the city was adding $48 million to the FY23 budget to address housing and homelessness issues in Albuquerque. Key appropriations included in the $48 million were as follows:
- $20.7 million for affordable and supportive housing
- $1.5 million for improvements to the Westside Emergency Housing Center
- $4 million to expand the Wellness Hotel Program
- $7 million for a youth shelter
- $6.8 million for medical respite and sobering centers
- $7 million for Gateway Phases I and II, and improvements to the Gibson Gateway Shelter facility
- $555,000 for services including mental health and food insecurity prevention
The link to the quoted source is here:
Effective July 1, 2024, the Family and Community Services Department was split to create two departments: Health, Housing and Homelessness (HHH) and the Youth and Family Services (YFS). The Health, Housing and Homelessness Department (HHH) provides a range of services to the unhoused. The services offered by the department directly or by contract with community providers include:
- Behavioral health services, which encompass mental health and substance abuse treatment and prevention.
- Homeless services.
- Domestic violence support.
- Health care.
- Gang/violence intervention and prevention.
- Public health services.
- Rental assistance and affordable housing developments.
HHH also operates four Health and Social Service Centers and the HHH department employs upwards of 100 full time employees.
The enacted FY/25 General Fund budget for the HHH Department is $52.2 million, which includes $48 million for strategic support, health and human services, affordable housing, mental health services, emergency shelter, homeless support services, Gibson Health HUB operating, and substance use services from Family and Community Services Department, and $4.2 million for a move of Gibson Health HUB maintenance division form General Service Department.
The HHH departments FY/25 budget which began on July 1, 20224 includes:
- $13.3 million of FY/24 one-time funding transferred from Family and Community Services, including $265 thousand for strategic support,
- $110 thousand for health and human services,
- $8.5 million for affordable housing,
- $1.5 million for mental health services,
- $1.2 million for emergency shelter,
- $200 thousand for substance use services,
- $1 million for homeless support services and $500 thousand for the Gateway Phase 1 and Engagement Center at Gibson Health Hub.
The FY/25 HHH Department budget increases recurring funding of $250 thousand for Family Housing Navigation Center/Shelter (Wellness-2), and recurring funding of $250 thousand for Gibson Health HUB maintenance. The proposed budget adjusts program appropriations of $776 thousand in FY/25 based on projected savings.
The Gateway Homeless shelter on Gibson, the city’s one-stop shop for shelter, housing and employment services, has been appropriated $10.7 million in total funding fiscal year 2025.
The Westside Emergency Housing Center was appropriated $1.5 million.
The proposed budget includes $8 million in one-time funding for supportive housing and voucher programs, plus $100,000 for emergency housing vouchers for victims of domestic violence.
Other major budget highlights for the homelessness, housing and behavioral health include the following:
- $900,000 nonrecurring to fully fund the Assisted Outpatient Treatment program.
- $730,000 in recurring funding for operation of the Medical Sobering Center at the Gateway Shelter.
- $100,000 nonrecurring for emergency housing vouchers for victims of domestic violence.
- “Full funding”for service contracts for mental health, substance abuse, early intervention and prevention programs, domestic violence shelters and services, sexual assault services, health and social service providers, and services to abused, neglected, and abandoned youth.
- $1.5 million in recurring funding for the Medical Respite facility at the Gateway Center.
- $100,000 nonrecurring for the development of a technology system that enables the city and providers to coordinate on the provision of social services to people experiencing homelessness and behavioral health challenges.
- $500,000 nonrecurring to fund Albuquerque Street Connect. According to the mayor’s office, Street Connect is a “proven program” that focuses on establishing ongoing relationships with people experiencing homelessness to help them into supportive housing.
You can review all city hall department budgets at this link:
Click to access fy24-proposed-web-version.pdf
COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS
Since becoming Mayor in 2017, Mayor Tim Keller has made the homeless his top priority second only to public safety. During the past 7 years of his tenure , the city has established two 24/7 homeless shelters, including purchasing the Loveless Gibson Medical Center for $15 million to convert it into a homeless shelter. The Keller administration has spent upwards of $90 million to renovate it.
The city is funding and operating 2 major shelters for the homeless, one fully operational with 450 beds and one when once remodeling is completed fully operational will assist upwards 1,000 homeless and accommodate at least 330 a night. Ultimately, both shelters are big enough to be remodeled and provide far more sheltered housing for the unhoused.
According to the City budgets for the years 2021 to 2024, the Keller administration has spent upwards of $200,000,000 or approximately $50 Million a year to provide shelter and services to the unhoused.
Keller has taken an “all the above approach” to deal with the city’s homeless. The city will have a total of 5 centers to deal with the homeless that should be operating as an integrated system by the end of next year:
- The Gibson Gateway shelter
- The Gateway West shelter
- The Family Gateway shelter
- The Youth Homeless shelter
- The Recovery Shelter
Notwithstanding all the efforts, the city’s financing and programs initiated by Mayor Keller, he insists that the city has 5,000 homeless. Every year that the Point In Time survey is released, the city and service providers always proclaim it is a massive undercount of the city and state’s homeless population. The accuracy of the PIT numbers are called into question with some arguing that the city’s homeless numbers are as high as10,000 or more as demands are made for more and more spending.
Government and charitable providers who rely on government funding to assist the homeless to an extent are motivated to make claims that the numbers they serve are much greater than they really are because government funding or even donations are dependent on the numbers they serve. This is especially so when federal funding is at stake.
KELLER’S EMBELISHMENT OF THE NUMBERS
The Point in Time (PIT) survey is criticized because everyone at risk of or experiencing homelessness through the course of the entire year is not included. The PIT report does not include those who are referred to as the “hidden homeless” which is defined as people who may be sleeping in their cars, overcrowded homes, vacant buildings or staying “on and off” with friends or relatives for short periods of time or in other unsafe housing conditions or in undetected campsites and those who have no permanent address.
Mayor Tim Keller’s embellishment that the city has upwards of 5,000 is not supported by the Point In Time survey and borders the ludicrous. The overall numbers found each year by the PIT over the last 12 years has been very consistent. Albuquerque’s total number of chronic homeless is between 2,002 counted in 2009 and 2,740 counted in 2024.
Until government and all homeless providers come up with an ongoing method of calculating the homeless throughout the year, the annual Point In Time is the only count that is reliable and should not be dismissed as inaccurate. The blunt reality is that homelessness will never be solved until the underlying causes of being homeless are resolved including poverty and the mental health and drug addiction crisis.
Given the numbers in the 2023 PIT report and the millions being spent on the homeless crisis it should be manageable. Yet the crisis is only seems to get worse and worse each year and it is a continuing major drain on city resources. During the past few years the unhoused have become far more dispersed throughout the city and have become far more aggressive in camping where they want and for how long as they want.
The problem the city and Mayor Keller have failed to solve is the homeless squatters who have no interest in any offers of shelter, beds, motel vouchers from the city or alternatives to living on the street and who want to camp at city parks, on city streets in alleys and trespass in open space. Keller himself acknowledged the very problem itself when he said this: “I just want to be really clear for the public …there’s a bed available for people to sleep. They do not have to be on the street. Now we understand they may make choices — that’s a different thing — but that bed is available. Until that problem is solved, the public perception will be is that very little to no progress has been made despite millions spent to deal with what Keller has described as the “challenge of our lifetime.”
The link to a related blog article is here: