Santa Fe is trying to address a rising homeless situation that seems to be without answers.
“Do we want, as a community, to try and help what we are seeing, which is growth in our homeless population?” Carol Romero-Wirth, a councilor for District 2, told KOB 4. “Or do we not, do we want to let people camp where ever they want to and just keep moving them around?”
Santa Fe is like many cities around the nation experiencing an increase in its homeless population. One proposal being considered by the city council is to utilize part of the midtown campus as a sanctioned encampment, according to KOB 4.
“It’s close to Consuelo’s Place, where we already have wraparound services to help people, so the proximity would be good,” Romero-Wirth said, adding the city has spent around $3.6 million moving unsanctioned campsites without much success.
Most are all in agreement using the midtown campus as a camp is a temporary solution.
“The idea is that this is a temporary, sanctioned place where people that are homeless to live, something like, I think the idea has been thrown out for something like a year while we work on a longer-term solution,” Romero-Wirth said.
The proposal does not mean the city is abandoning developing midtown into an economic center for Santa Fe. On the contrary, Romero-Wirth said many of their plans to revitalize the area are already underway.