Dede Feldman is the author of Another Way Forward: Grassroots Solutions from New Mexico and a former state senator from the North Valley.
During the past few years, in an effort to reduce crime, tackle drug abuse, and protect public health and safety, Albuquerque has shut down a number of troublesome motels throughout the city. The motels—including the Tewa Lodge and the Bow and Arrow Motel (both on East Central), Motel 6 on the West Side, and Court St. John in the near North Valley—had numerous code violations and were the source of repeated calls to the police.
But as neighbors and nearby restaurants applauded, the multi-departmental operation was not so simple. Many residents of the motels, where it was easy to rent and few questions were asked, had nowhere else to go. Without help they would swell the ranks of the unhoused. That’s when a new group of largely unheralded outreach workers stepped in.
“They won’t let go.”
Jennifer Martinez won’t let go. Neither will Angela Tello. Getting people who are evicted from motels shut down by the City for safety reasons into appropriate housing is hard.
But members of the City’s innovative Albuquerque Community Safely (ACS) street outreach team, like Angela and Jennifer are used to obstacles, and they don’t give up.
Alvin Phillips, who was living in the Motel 6, on the West Side, remembers when he was greeted by a note on his door that code inspectors were coming, and then how he had less than 24 hours to get out of the dangerous motel, where human trafficking was going on.
“I was pissed. I don’t do drugs. I’m not an alcoholic. I get up and go to work every day,” he says.
“But I happened to come across the right person—Angela Tello. She got me some temporary housing at the Tree Inn, where they allow support animals, and now I’m signing a lease on a new apartment at the Village at Sandia and it’s all because of Angela. She’s awesome. I love her.”
And, he adds, “they should have shut down that place long ago.”
Phillips’ experience is not unique. A former resident of the Bow and Arrow Motel, who asked that his name not be used, says he now rents a small house, thanks to the diligence of Angela Tello. It’s the same price as the Bow and Arrow, but there are no “fentanyl freaks” and Angela even got him some furniture. “She’s a sweetheart,” he says.
When the City closed the notorious Court St. John Motel on 4th St, patrons of Mary and Tito’s Restaurant, a local favorite across the street, rejoiced. “We’ve been hoping and praying that one day this would come,” Antoinette Knight, the restaurant owner told the Albuquerque Journal.
But there could have been collateral damage. A 97-year-old veteran who had been living there for 27 years never had the support system to allow him to move. When the motel was closed, ACS stepped in and wrestled with the veterans’ health care system. He is now living in a transitional VA housing facility, where he has 24-7 care. He is one of 15 of the motel’s residents who connected with ACS.
“Our navigators walk with you and won’t let go,” says Jennifer Martinez, who was trained as a social worker and formerly worked at Heading Home with unsheltered individuals suffering from mental illness and substance use. Martinez is now the Homeless Liaison Administrator for the ACS program, which began in 2021 with eight outreach workers. The aim of the program then—and now—is to lessen the load on the police by responding to mental and behavioral health crises that do not involve a weapon, to prevent violence, and provide support to people who are unhoused or otherwise in jeopardy. The work involves navigation skills and partnerships with other agencies.
It also takes commitment and compassion. ACS outreach workers must earn the trust of vulnerable populations, which often takes years, and necessitates intensive training in things like motivational interviewing and cultural sensitivity.
“I think most of us know someone in their situation, from our own families or friends,” says Jennifer Martinez. “And we want to give back.”
Angela Tello is certified as a peer support worker. “I bring something a little different to the table—lived experience,” she says. “I was an addict for years, incarcerated, and homeless. My children were taken from me…I have a different kind of passion that involves empathy and understanding.”
Since its start in 2021, ACS’s program has grown to incorporate 80 field responders like Angela Tello. It does more than relieve the police to handle violent crimes. The program has responded to over 100,000 calls, most of them involving mental and behavioral health issues, helping the unhoused, or the victims of domestic violence or trauma. It operates 24-7. The department is now doing street medicine in collaboration with UNM Hospital. It operates out of a new headquarters in the International District, and has garnered national attention from the Harvard Business School, the National League of Cities, the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, and the Council of State Governments, among others.
But that doesn’t solve problems. Outreach, coordination, and the dedication of workers like Jennifer Martinez and Angela Tello does.
