For many months it looked like a city contract no one wanted: Run the city’s largest shelter for those experiencing homelessness — Gateway West — and try to coordinate a way forward for hundreds of people staying there. Albuquerque Heading Home had done it since 2018, but decided last year it was no longer interested.
What followed was a difficult search by the city to find a replacement to take the reins of a facility that is a destination of last resort for those in desperate circumstances. After months of back and forth, a three-year contract at $7.1 million a year was signed by Chicanos Por La Causa — about $3 million more per year than Heading Home’s previous terms.
“The initial bid was too low to justify the services required,” Joseph Griego, Chicanos Por La Causa’s New Mexico president, said. “That led to negotiations to reach a realistic budget. We weren’t going to take the job unless the city upped the contract amount.”
What’s required at Gateway West is challenging and expensive to say the least. The shelter and its 12 dorms are located inside a former jail and getting there isn’t easy — it’s surrounded by dirt and sagebrush about 17 miles from the city’s center. The 24/7 facility (it wasn’t always so, but demand has forced it to be) accommodates as many as 660 people a night, clean linens, showers, food, security and transportation. People often arrive needing medical attention and have addiction and behavioral health issues. Once there, the goal is to meet urgent needs and then come up with some kind of short and long term plan for stability and housing.
Chicanos Por La Causa transitioned into its new role last month and fully took over Jan. 1. Griego said he kept most of the staff who were employed through Heading Home, but is searching for a senior director to oversee day-to-day operations and about 65 employees — monitors, social workers and managers. There are subcontractors to juggle, too, for cleaning, security and linen services. The city handles a food services contract, although Griego said officials would like Chicanos Por La Causa to eventually take it over. Minimal medical services at the site are also managed by the city.
‘There’s got to be a better place’
Griego said when he and his staff first toured the shelter it was disturbing to see the number of veterans living there, something he wants to change.
“To me, in my mind, of all the places — because we have a Veterans Integration Center: Why are they here? There’s got to be a better place than a homeless shelter for a vet that qualifies for all these additional services that we wouldn’t have out at the shelter,” he said.
Griego said he’s already established a partnership with the Veterans Integration Center in Albuquerque, which provides housing and other services. Also concerning on the tour, he said, was the number of seniors living at the shelter, many with medical conditions.
“We found individuals there that are in their 80s on oxygen,” Griego said. “I think it’s the wrong place for them. There’s got to be a better place for an elderly person than a shelter, specifically when you have a disability and you have a medical need.”
Griego said his staff has, perhaps expectedly, encountered a “this is the way it was done before” mindset at Gateway West.
“We’re having to learn that process and then change some of it,” he said. “Because, just because they did it that way, it’s not the way we’re going to be executing. It’s still the same service, but it’s going to be executed a little bit differently.”
The city, meanwhile, has made needed improvements at the facility recently, including the installation of new beds with secure under-bed storage and upgraded laundry services. Nine of the shelter’s 12 dorms have been renovated so far. There are more issues to tackle, including unreliable internet service, which hinders the work social service and health care providers do at the site.
New Mexico presence
Chicanos Por La Causa’s unique name, and its roots, are tied to the Civil Rights Era. Over the years (it was founded in 1969) it evolved from an activist organization to a large nonprofit provider of early childhood education services and programs in housing, health, economic development and more.
Chicanos Por La Causa employs almost 200 people in New Mexico — the biggest concentration is in Albuquerque (80) — where it recently moved into offices in Old Town. It has operated in 22 counties in the state since 2008, administering Early Head Start and Head Start contracts — a program that helps children from low-income families prepare for school. Chicanos Por La Causa is heavily involved in services ranging from early childhood programs to emergency assistance. It has operated a domestic violence shelter for 35 years in Phoenix, where it is headquartered.
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