By Damon Scott, City Desk ABQ
It’s been almost a year since the city announced plans to use $5 million in opioid settlement money to build a pallet home campus for 50 people experiencing homelessness who are also in recovery from opioid and other substance use disorders.
Located at 3401 Pan American Freeway NE just north of Candelaria Road, and later branded Recovery Gateway, officials said this week that construction is expected to be completed in March. However the city still needs someone to run it.
If the city has its way, that someone will be Endeavors — a self-described “faith-based” organization with headquarters in San Antonio, Texas. The city’s Health, Housing & Homelessness Department (HHH) negotiated a three-year, $8.1 million contract with Endeavors, but the Albuquerque City Council has the final say on its approval. The contract is expected to be considered by councilors at its next scheduled meeting March 3.
Even if it’s approved, residents likely won’t be able to move in for months. If construction is completed no later than March 31, it would be a tough turnaround for Endeavors to staff up and welcome clients right away. HHH officials admitted as much this week, without being too specific.
“Endeavors has the capacity to be operational this spring,” spokesperson Connor Woods said. (Spring begins March 20 and ends June 20).
Endeavors’ 2023 annual report states that its primary areas of work are in behavioral health and wellness, migrant services and emergency services such as disaster relief after a storm. Woods said while the organization hasn’t run a project exactly like Recovery Gateway, it has decades of experience as a behavioral health provider that connects people to recovery housing options. Efforts by City Desk ABQ to reach Endeavors’ representatives by press time weren’t successful.
At a Finance & Government Operations committee hearing Feb. 10, City Councilor Klarissa Peña had questions about the long-term funding of the project.
“I just want to make sure that we’re not overburdening and not being able to execute this into the future,” she said. “The opioid money [is] kind of one-time money. I just want to make sure that we don’t have to halt any of these projects moving forward.”
The city’s chief financial officer, Kevin Sourisseau, replied that the project was a top city priority.
“This is a critical need, as I’m sure everyone is aware,” he said. “We will work with the full council to find ways to fund this going forward as a priority for our city.”
The contract passed out of the committee on a 4-0 vote.
Smooth sailing for Recovery Gateway and Endeavors would be welcome news for the Mayor Tim Keller administration, as it has faced recent challenges with contracts.
Last month, the city terminated a $2.5 million annual contract with Listo Health, the operator of the newly opened medical sobering center at the flagship Gateway Center on Gibson Boulevard. The city said it had become clear that Listo Health couldn’t live up to the contract’s required scope of services and was having “cash-flow issues” among other red flags. In addition, the Listo Health contract had never been approved by the City Council, a requirement. City Councilor Renée Grout said it was an example of the city “rushing to press conferences and ignoring details.”
The search for a new contractor is underway, but the sobering center’s opening is now delayed until at least the summer.
The Gateway Center is also facing the departure of a much more well-known contractor — the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center. Its Office for Community Health is operating the first responder receiving area, but recently said it was no longer interested. The contract expires in March, but UNM officials agreed to stay on until July to give the city more time to find a replacement.