Uphill push for ROCk

Plans for south-side homeless shelter move forward without state capital outlay

A Santa Fe nonprofit plans to move ahead with construction of a new 125-bed homeless shelter on the city’s south side despite a failed attempt to secure legislative capital outlay for the project.

Interfaith Community Shelter — the founder and longtime operator of a city-owned homeless shelter on Cerrillos Road before its ouster from the facility in late July — took a major step forward in January when it closed on the purchase of a 1.1-acre parcel at 1 Emblem Road near the Santa Fe Place mall.

The group now plans to build a facility from the ground up with both overnight and day services for homeless residents. The estimated price tag for the building, known as the Resource and Opportunity Center, or the “ROCk,” is $16 million, which the nonprofit had hoped to defray with state funding

allocated by Santa Fe lawmakers.

While the project received a lot of positive feedback from local lawmakers, Interfaith Community Shelter board President Kent Grubbs said, the organization got a late start lobbying for funding during the 30-day session that ended last month. By that time, he noted, the city of Santa Fe and Santa Fe County had already presented their capital outlay wishlists.

He described the experience as “a good platform” to build on for next year.

“I think we had some wins and we developed some support,” he said. “It didn’t result in any funding, but we only started the process in December, so I’m proud of the effort that we made and of the way we advance the message of what we’re trying to accomplish.”

Creating the ROCk has been the nonprofit’s main goal since its lease to operate the city-owned shelter at 2801 Cerrillos Road — long called Pete’s Place but now dubbed Agape House — was terminated last year.

Interfaith envisions a mix of congregate spaces for beds as well as individual housing units at the shelter, such as private rooms, with indoor and outdoor space, wraparound services and case management to help guests on a path into permanent housing. Day services would include food, laundry, showers, bike repair, mail, internet access and a pet kennel.

Estimated operating costs would be about $2.5 million to $3 million a year.

The nonprofit is hosting a community forum April 9, where people can ask questions and provide feedback about the project. Grubbs said the event is intended to collect input from a wide range of residents, which will be used to inform the facility’s eventual design and operation.

The format will be modeled after some recent community engagement events on homelessness hosted by the city, with an initial presentation and then small-group discussions at tables. Facilitators will take notes on participants’ comments.

State Rep. Tara Lujan, D-Santa Fe, described the Resource and Opportunity Center as “a good investment.”

As the Legislature works to get a handle on a ballooning backlog of unspent capital outlay for local projects, Lujan said in an interview last week, it’s important for Interfaith Community Shelter to have a solid financial plan that informs the stages of its project and the costs as it requests state funding.

“I’ve been supportive of their efforts and we just need to get a solid plan with them together and see where they are exactly right now, and how we can help,” she said.

Grubbs said Interfaith Community Shelter also is exploring the possibility of receiving funds through the Lujan Grisham administration and had a meeting recently with Workforce Solutions Secretary Sarita Nair.

In the meantime, the nonprofit is moving forward with engineering and architectural work and expects to submit an application for city building permits over the summer.

“We’re continuing that work full speed ahead at our own cost,” Grubbs said.

Interfaith hosted a cleanup of the Emblem Road site earlier this month in partnership with the local “Trash Pandas” group and is conducting outreach to neighbors in the surrounding area, including Santa Fe Place managers.

Grubbs said the nonprofit wants to have a “collaborative relationship” with all property owners.

Members of the organization have said the Emblem Road property appealed to them because it is not adjacent to any homes but is close to a bus route. However, the more than 200-unit Turquesa apartment complex lies just beyond a storage unit site, and there are several homes just down Emblem Road. Hotels and other businesses are also nearby.

Grubbs said he’s spoken to dozens of people about the ROCk. While people have different opinions on the project, he has yet to hear anyone say they don’t believe the city needs a new homeless shelter, he noted, which speaks to how pervasive homelessness has become in Santa Fe.

“One of the staggering revelations for me in this whole process is just how obvious this need is and how widespread that view is,” he said.