The Gateway Center on Gibson Boulevard in Albuquerque’s International District — run by the city’s Health, Housing & Homelessness Department — is poised to soon offer 50 overnight beds to men. Thus far, longer-term overnight beds at the facility have been limited to a 50-bed unit for women.
Officials said this week that the men’s housing navigation center would open early this year and “expand on the success it’s seen” from the current women’s housing navigation center. The women’s unit is located on the second floor, while the men’s unit will be located on the first floor of the massive 572,000-square-foot former hospital complex.
The idea behind both units — and the flagship Gateway Center itself — is to provide a one-stop shop to more easily and effectively assist and stabilize those experiencing homelessness. In addition to meals, officials say residents are given access to case managers, housing case managers and peer support workers. Those in the women’s unit are allowed to be accompanied by their pets in some cases.
The Gateway Center also hosts onsite vendors — organizations that provide medical, behavioral health and wraparound services, for example. It also features a first responders receiving area (to triage cases), a medical sobering unit and most recently a medical respite unit.
A Gateway neighborhood meeting scheduled for Jan. 30 from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. will offer a tour of the soon-to-open men’s unit at 7:25 p.m. The meeting is held as part of a “good neighbor agreement” signed in 2022 by the city and representatives of neighborhoods that are adjacent to the facility. The agreement established monthly meetings where residents can voice their concerns to city officials.
Continued need for funds
The recently branded Gateway network — part of Mayor Tim Keller’s Metro Homelessness Initiative — includes the flagship center on Gibson and four others: Gateway West (the Westside shelter that just got a new operator), Recovery Gateway (also referred to as the pallet home project), Family Gateway (a city-run shelter for families) and the forthcoming Youth Gateway (a former hotel expected to be renovated into a shelter). All the projects have required considerable city money and often include funding from Bernalillo County, the state and federal sources.
Capital outlay requests from the city to lawmakers in Santa Fe this year, who are a little more than a week into a 60-day legislative session, equates to more than $21 million just for Gateway-related projects.
Renovations that have been underway at Gateway West’s 12 dorms, including exterior improvements, is expected to cost about $6 million. To launch the Youth Gateway project, the city purchased the former San Mateo Inn at 2424 San Mateo Blvd. for $4.8 million. The shelter would offer wraparound services for young adults who are experiencing homelessness. About $12 million for the project has been secured so far — a mix of city, state and federal funds.
The Gateway Center on Gibson — where the men’s unit will soon open — is the most costly within the network. It has received tens of millions of dollars in funding from multiple sources since the city initially bought the building in 2021 for $15 million. City Councilor Renée Grout estimated the cost last November at north of $100 million and counting.
In addition, from 2020 to 2024, city contracts with social service providers was almost $86 million, not including federal funding, and in fiscal year 2024, the city spent $13.5 million on housing vouchers, according to Grout.
The Gateway Center is located at 5400 Gibson Blvd. SE. More information is available here.
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