City Councilor calls for Gateway Center to offer walk-up services
—Damon Scott, Nob Hill News
The Gateway Center on Gibson is the city of Albuquerque’s flagship site to address widespread homelessness, but District 6 City Councilor Nichole Rogers is calling for it to be made more accessible to the unhoused population by allowing walk-up services, a change that goes against an agreement the city made with nearby neighborhoods.
According to Damon Scott of the Nob Hill News, because of this agreement, unhoused clients are currently only able to access services at the center by being brought in by first responders, outreach teams or a referral from a healthcare partner—but not by seeking service themselves.
Rogers says she is frustrated by this barrier to access. She’d like to see walk-ups with limited hours and appointments and is calling for a new agreement with the neighborhoods.
Janet Simon, president of the Parkland Hills Neighborhood Association, is concerned about more foot traffic attracting encampments near schools like Wilson Middle School and Whittier Elementary, but she also said some residents are willing to at least consider limited walk-up services, as long as there’s adequate monitoring.
Rogers said she wants neighborhood concerns addressed and, in the end, to also see Gateway’s services accessed through multiple options—walk-up and otherwise.
New Mexico environmental groups support $218M for conservation efforts
—Joshua Bowling, Source NM
A coalition of New Mexico environmental advocacy groups this week endorsed $218 million in funding requests that would bolster water conservation and restoration projects. Lawmakers are expected to tackle these projects as they craft the state’s budget in January’s legislative session.
According to Joshua Bowling with Source NM, projects in the group’s list range from relatively small—$1.5 million to upgrade an IT system in the Office of the State Engineer—to large —$50 million to meet the terms of the settlement agreement in a yearslong legal battle over Rio Grande water between Texas and New Mexico.
Many of the projects aim at giving New Mexico’s waterways preventative care to reduce the amount of costly disaster relief that’s often needed after wildfires give way to floods, advocates said.
They also endorsed $3.5 million for the department’s Surface Water Permitting Program, which state leaders created in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Sackett v. EPA ruling. The decision removed protections from about half of the nation’s wetlands.
Climate advocates said they want to see lawmakers appropriate $22 million for ongoing aquifer mapping and monitoring in the New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources. These mapping projects are meant to give state leaders a clear picture of the quantity and quality of groundwater resources across the state.
New transitional housing facility a 'stepping stone' and second chance for homeless families
—Gillian Barkhurst, Albuquerque Journal
Ponderosa Place is a tan, unassuming building that might go unnoticed if not for the 100-foot tall sign that announces its presence to the thousands of cars that whiz by on Interstate 40 each day.
That sign, which once advertised the Comfort Inn, is now empty, but the building beneath is bustling. Ponderosa Place is now the largest transitional housing facility for families in Albuquerque, coming just ahead of the city's Gateway Family facility in terms of capacity.
Gillian Barkhurst of the Albuquerque Journal reports that dozens of once homeless families stay in the hotel’s old rooms, where they’re trying to put the pieces of their lives back together.
Ponderosa Place is open to any homeless family that consists of at least one adult and one child, said Louisa Garcia, the program’s manager. Another requirement is sobriety, she said, although staff will refer anyone who doesn’t qualify to substance use treatment.
A lump sum of $7 million dollars from the Legislature helped the county buy the building back in October. Those funds came from a pot of more than $110 million that the state Legislature allocated this year to create solutions for housing and homelessness across New Mexico.
Now, Ponderosa Place has 74 residents, although it could house up to 76 families or 300 people.