Joy Junction s mobile trucks barred from serving homeless community in certain areas kob.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from kob.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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A plan floated by two elected officials to create sanctioned “safe outdoor spaces,” aka tent cities for a growing homeless population, is premature at best and a terrible idea at worst.
The suggestion by County Commissioner Debbie O’Malley and City Councilor Diane Gibson comes as Albuquerque is moving full speed toward opening the long-awaited, scaled-down but still $14 million Gateway Center homeless shelter and services hub in the old Lovelace hospital in Southeast Albuquerque. The city describes this Gateway Center – with 150-175 shelter beds plus 25-50 slots to help people “recover from acute illness and injury” – as “a physically and emotionally safe place that will help connect people to housing” (and) “a compassionate solution to supporting those who are unhoused.”
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Albuquerque’s acquisition of the former Lovelace hospital on Gibson and its anticipated inclusion of 25 to 50 medical recovery beds is the double shot needed to finally tackle homelessness here in meaningful and long-term ways.
Albuquerque officials announced last week the city bought the former Lovelace hospital for $15 million to provide shelter and an array of services for the homeless. The working plan is to add 150 to 175 emergency shelter beds, plus 25 to 50 medically supervised beds for people with recovery needs. Both would be tremendous steps in the right direction.
Medical respite care is needed for people too ill or frail to recover from an illness or injury on the streets, but not ill enough to be in a hospital. Providing them medically supervised beds is a right-sized solution that should alleviate pressures on local hospitals and emergency rooms.
Westside shelter continues vaccination efforts for the unhoused dailylobo.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from dailylobo.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.