It came down to the wire, but the city found a new nonprofit to operate its Westside shelter for those experiencing homelessness — Gateway West — and City Councilors unanimously approved a $5 million annual contract Monday night on a 9-0 vote.
Phoenix-based Chicanos Por La Causa (CPLC) will take over operations Jan. 1 from Albuquerque Heading Home, which which told the city earlier this year that it no longer wanted to operate the 660-capacity facility it’s overseen since 2018. Since March, the city has had a challenging time finding a replacement through a request for proposals (RFP) process. Heading Home has stayed on under an emergency $2.1 million contract since July.
While Health, Housing & Homelessness Department (HHH) officials were excited at the prospect of a CPLC contract being given the greenlight Monday night, City Councilor Nichole Rogers said she was concerned about the transition plan. There was nothing in the contract that spelled out how Heading Home would hand over operations before the end of the year.
“We are currently working with Heading Home, and hopefully [CPLC] if you guys select them tonight on a process of what that would look like,” HHH Deputy Director Charlie Verploegh said. “So the transition plan is basically to phase one in and one out over the period of two months.”
A transition involves a number of elements, including the renewal of subcontracts for linen and custodial services, or a plan to bring such services in-house. CPLC staff would need to be trained on the city’s reimbursement process and monthly reporting requirements, too. A transition would ostensibly allow time for Heading Home to give appropriate notice to its own subcontractors. The nonprofit’s emergency contract expires Dec. 31.
“In mid-November, we’d like for [Heading Home] to be able to give notice,” Verploegh said. “The idea is basically by December 1 [CPLC] would be hired up, and then we would start to phase in their staff [and] probably have them shadow each other so they work together as a team over the shifts.”
Rogers wasn’t quite satisfied with the response, however.
“So that means we don’t have a plan right now; it sounds like we just have an idea — we’re going to meet, we’re going to phase,” she said.
Verploegh said a detailed transition plan would be forthcoming, but Rogers stressed that the absence of one “frightened” her.
“I’ve been very vocal since March about the failed RFPs that have led up to this,” Rogers said. “So I’m excited, don’t get me wrong — but I’m just really worried about the transition. Neither of these contracts hold either of them to any kind of transition because you didn’t write it in their contract.”
Many moving parts
CPLC was formed in 1969 by a coalition of community members who organized around racial justice issues. Over the years, however, it has expanded into health and human services, housing, education, economic development and advocacy work in six Southwest states — New Mexico, Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada and Texas.
CPLC will be responsible for overseeing the 24/7 facility — the city’s largest shelter — including client intake, referrals, tracking, security, dorm monitoring, food distribution, transportation and limited health care services. The nonprofit must also provide case management services for Gateway West residents who are 18 to 59 years old. A separate case management contract for those 60 and older, with Las Cruces-based Sierra Health Care Inc., still needs to be approved by the City Council.
HHH officials said Monday that CPLC has experience managing shelters that are similar to Gateway West, including a domestic violence shelter and family shelter in Phoenix.
Meanwhile, work is still underway to improve conditions at the facility, which has long been a point of contention among some City Councilors, homeless advocates and those living there. Renovations to six of its 12 dorms have been completed so far this year, officials said, which includes new beds, secure under-bed storage, new floors and updated bathrooms.