City of Albuquerque opens $17 million transitional housing facility for homeless youth

Within the first 48 hours a teenager is on the streets, 1 in 3 of them is approached by human traffickers.

They may have aged out of the foster care system or run away from home, but regardless, teenagers and young adults are seen as easy targets, said Jess Orr, a project manager at the New Mexico Dream Center, an organization that works to combat human trafficking and support survivors.

Many youth end up on the streets because there isn’t an in-between option: they’re too old to be in the care of the Children, Youth and Families Department and too young to fend for themselves in adult homeless shelters.

On Tuesday, the city of Albuquerque officially opened a $17 million transitional housing facility for homeless youth, aged 18 to 24, that will provide housing, case management and life skills training.

“We can’t replace a loving family but we sure can give them the tools and support they need,” said City Councilor Renée Grout.

The Gateway Young Adult Housing Navigation Center, operated by Youth Development Inc., will welcome its first residents in a week after four years of fundraising, planning and construction.

To celebrate the opening, community members and leaders brought housewarming gifts. A pile of duvet covers, yoga mats, board games and plastic plants piled high in one corner as leaders got a first tour of the building. Grout, one of the leaders integral to the program’s creation, said she hopes the colorful gifts make the new residents feel at home at last.

A second life

The now turquoise latticed building on San Mateo and Cutler NE has come a long way. In a past life it had been a motel, which after years of neglect became a “drug den,” said Bernalillo County Commissioner Eric Olivas, who lives nearby.

“This is way more than improving the neighborhood — it’s improving life,” Olivas said during a tour of the building. “I welcome these young people to the neighborhood.”

The program is intended last 90 days and help youth experiencing homelessness learn critical life skills, reenroll in school and find jobs. However, residents can remain longer or leave early, depending on their needs, YDI staff said.

This is just the beginning.

The project has three phases, and only a third of the building has been renovated so far. This first phase will house 41 residents in dorm-style bedrooms and the subsequent phase will bump total occupancy up to 91.

While people squeezed through hallways to tour the newly renovated building, the rest of the old motel sat still. Hand-strung ristras hung from the exterior beams and beyond single-pane windows bathtubs lay on their sides in gutted hotel rooms.

City Council staff estimated that the next phase of renovation with cost around $10 million.

The current operating budget for the program is $2.3 million per year, according to the city’s 2025 contract with YDI. 

Councilors Tammy Fiebelkorn, Brook Bassan and Grout were the driving force behind the project, committing their set-aside funds and asking state lawmakers and members of New Mexico’s congressional delegation to contribute.

That initial $17 million was spent on purchasing the property and neighboring park, removing asbestos and fully renovating a third of the building. Requests for more funding are expected to crop up during the next budgeting process this summer. 

Seeing the project she began in her first term come to fruition has special significance for Fiebelkorn.

“I was unhoused as a teenager,” she said.

After finally getting her first apartment, she didn’t know how to cook or how to get the electricity turned on.

“They seem like obvious things to all of us, but if nobody teaches you — you don’t know,” Fiebelkorn said.

She hopes this place will be the helping hand she never had.

Gillian Barkhurst is the local government reporter for the Journal. She can be reached at gbarkhurst@abqjournal.com.