The city of Albuquerque recently shared a video showing the construction underway at the Gateway Center.
“This is going to be a space to provide medical care to folks who are experiencing homelessness, who don’t have a safe space to recover from surgery or wounds, a broken arm, or anything that is very difficult to do while someone is living on the street,” Albuquerque Family and Community Services spokesperson, Katie Simon, said in the video, which was featured by KRQE.
Construction began in August 2022 and the first phase of construction is expected to be completed in May, according to the video. When that happens the facility’s first 50 overnight beds and engagement center will be able to house homeless individuals.
“The benefit of having the engagement center just steps away from where people are sleeping means it will be easier for someone to meet with a case worker, get a haircut, get an ID, apply for food stamps, or anything else that they need to work on to get back on their feet,” Simon said.
The city expects to house 350 people a year with stays of up to 60 days.
“We are going to have a dressing area here on this side for folks to be able to get ready and present themselves,” Simon said in the video while giving a tour. “Here we’ll have our showers; as you can see, the showers are really coming along.”
The video also showed areas where people will be able to change and sleep, as well as piles of beds, dressers, and nightstands.
“We have three sleeping areas which will have about 20 beds each,” Simon said. “There will be a couple of rooms if someone needs to stay overnight, until another shelter is open in the morning, or just needs to wait for transportation.”
The city has spent more than $20 million to date to buy and fix up the building. It remains uncertain what the total cost will be. Meanwhile, construction on a sobering center is expected to begin this spring and the city hopes to open the center in the fall.