albuquerque effort underway to build homeless residential and recreational space

In a city where up to 5,000 people are thought to be homeless, a non-profit group has announced plans to build a facility that would provide residential space as well as educational opportunities.

What is being called the Homeless Vision 2018 is a proposal put together by the Greater Albuquerque Business Alliance, which is made up of some forty business leaders, to provide an alternative to endemic homelessness in the city.

The project would see the construction of several dorm-like facilities that could house at any given time as many as 170 people.

Planned for a site on 2nd Street SW, south of Bridge Boulevard SW, the project would also include separate dorms for veterans, families, and men and women.

There would also be a childcare center, as well as a communal building housing a gymnasium, cafeteria, and classrooms.

The classroom would be used for General Education Development learning, as well as life skills training.

Officials with the alliance say they are in negotiations with the owner of the site. It is thought that it will cost around $2 million to build the homeless facility as currently planned.

The issue of homelessness has been a long-standing challenge in Albuquerque, particularly in its downtown and historic Barelas neighborhood.

“Regardless of their mental states, homeless people have been drawn to Albuquerque’s warm climate for decades,” noted reporter Rick Nathanson in the Albuquerque Journal earlier this summer, “they’re not going away, and they need social services to survive and to perhaps break the cycle of homelessness.”  

By Garry Boulard

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