ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) –There’s a new option in Albuquerque for people struggling with homelessness and drug addiction. The city is ready to open a first-of-its-kind, recovery-focused shelter.
Soon enough, the city will welcome dozens of new residents to the shelter full of small, portable homes to give people a place to live and get on their feet. “We need a place where we can lay our heads down and know that we are in a safe place,” said Donald Hume, formerly homeless.
Sober for more than 30 years now, Hume already knows the city’s new tiny palette home project is something that should have a big impact. “We didn’t have recovery homes like this when I came into recovery,” said Hume.
A first of its kind for Albuquerque, run through the city’s Gateway Center program, this new 46-pallet home micro community near I-25 and Comanche will soon house people trying to move past drug addiction.
At capacity, up to 50 people will live in the community. To get there, residents can be referred by local detox centers or addiction recovery providers.
“Those referrals will be streamlined throughout with our case management and clinical services, and we will contact the referring party and do an interview, see if that person is appropriate for our services, and we’ll take it from there,” said Nancy Suarez, Endeavors Services Program Manager
Residents will be able to live in the pallet community for up to two years.
Along with onsite services like laundry rooms, a kitchen, and a pet area, the “Gateway Recovery” community has three open areas where residents can talk or share meals with on-site social workers and neighbors.
“Reminder, because I think there’s confusion sometimes, this is post-detox to maintain sobriety and recovery, right? And so that is to help you continue on that path of sustaining your non-use and your recovery process,” said Gilbert Ramirez with the City of Albuquerque Health, Housing, and Homelessness Department.
Funded with $5 million in opioid settlement funds, the city built the project in just nine months. “The county jumped on board, saying, ‘Yes, we’re in, how do we help?’ That’s the unification that happens when we put people before politics and we make things happen,” said Ramirez.
The city says service providers are aiming to work on evaluating referrals for people to live in these pallet homes within two to three days. The city says the “Recovery Gateway” project is going to start taking in residents within the coming weeks.