If city contracts brought before the Albuquerque City Council are meant to provide more answers than questions, the most recent one would likely fail the test.
A three-year, $8.1 million contract for San Antonio, Texas-based Endeavors to operate the city’s first pallet home campus — Recovery Gateway — was ultimately approved by city councilors Monday night on a 6-3 vote, but there were concerns. The 50-person campus with 46 homes is designed to house those experiencing homelessness who are also battling drug and alcohol addiction — widely regarded as an issue of urgent need.
The city tapped into $5 million of its opioid settlement money to get the project kickstarted about a year ago. Bernalillo County contributed another $1.7 million along the way. The initial funds were pitched by city officials as enough to cover construction and two years of operating costs. The site is located at 3401 Pan American Freeway NE, just north of Candelaria Road.
But while the project’s goal would be hard to oppose, city councilors had questions about the contract and Endeavors. David Hernandez, senior director for emergency services at Endeavors, tried to provide some answers via Zoom at the City Council meeting.
Councilor Tammy Fiebelkorn, and residents who gave public comments, were uneasy about a previous contract Endeavors had in 2021 with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE). ICE has played a key role in the Trump administration’s efforts to crack down on illegal immigration and has authority to detain people. But Hernandez said the contract was only to temporarily house families with children in hotels, who were not being detained.
“At no time was any family prohibited from leaving if they chose to leave,” Hernandez said. “Endeavors has never had a contract for detention purposes.”
Fiebelkorn then sought assurance from city officials that an approval of the Endeavors contract would not be in opposition to Albuquerque’s immigrant-friendly status.
“I feel absolutely confident that there is no danger in Endeavors working with ICE to go against our immigrant-friendly city,” Chief Administrative Officer Samantha Sengel said. “That is not their mission and it has not been what they have done in the past.”
Endeavors’ primary areas of work are in behavioral health and wellness, migrant services and emergency services such as disaster relief after a storm, according to its 2023 annual report. While the organization hasn’t run a project exactly like Recovery Gateway, it has considerable experience as a behavioral health provider that connects people to recovery housing options.
Funding questions
Councilor Nichole Rogers, who is known to go through city contracts with a fine-toothed comb, wanted to know if Endeavors was set up to bill Medicaid in New Mexico on behalf of future clients. She noted that the contact said it would be.
“We applied for it … but I cannot tell you where we are at the application process,” Hernandez said.
Council President Brook Bassan had concerns about how the project would be funded in the long-term — which was also on the mind of Councilor Klarissa Peña at a Finance & Government Operations committee hearing last month. City officials have previously said the project is a top priority for the city, and Sengel said Monday that the intention was to include funding requests in the fiscal year 2026 budget, and in future budgets, to make sure operations stay intact.
Service, logistics
Meanwhile, according to the contract, part of Endeavors’ responsibility would be to connect clients to recovery services and oversee daily operations, case management, housing navigation, meals and transportation. Rogers asked for more details.
“Who’s going to actually be providing recovery services, if we’re truly calling it a Recovery Gateway, who’s providing those services?” she asked.
Health, Housing & Homelessness Department Deputy Director Ellen Braden said Endeavors would hire certified peer support workers, clinicians and recovery coaches.
“There’s going to be Endeavors staff who are providing on-site recovery services as well as connecting the clients to services in the community, because we want this to be ongoing care,” she said.
The campus is located in Councilor Joaquín Baca’s District 2. While he’s been one of its biggest supporters, he also had concerns about Endeavor’s previous contract with ICE, but said he was satisfied that there were safeguards in place.
“I feel like recovery centers needed to be done yesterday …. I just kind of want to get that out as we move forward with this,” he said prior to the vote.
Councilors voting to approve the contract were Joaquín Baca, Tammy Fiebelkorn, Renée Grout, Dan Lewis, Klarissa Peña and Louis Sanchez. Those opposed were Brooke Bassan, Dan Champine and Nichole Rogers.
With the contract approved, the campus is expected to accept its first clients sometime in the spring — which begins March 20 and ends June 20.