Ribbon cutting marks the opening of first safe outdoor space

One down, 899 to go.

That was the sentiment expressed by Enrique Cardiel, executive director of the Health Equity Council and self-described “downer,” during a ribbon-cutting event for Albuquerque’s first sanctioned safe outdoor space Thursday.

Speaking to a group of housing and homelessness officials from churches, nonprofit organizations and the city of Albuquerque, all packed into a small lot and surrounded by 10 tents or tiny homes destined to be transitional housing, Cardiel put the celebration into context.

“Some people say there’s 5,000 folks living on the streets,” he said, referring to the 2024 Point-in-Time Report estimate of unhoused residents in New Mexico. “Other people say it’s 9,000. So that’s 900 of these spaces that we would need.”

Statistically speaking, the 10 shelters spotlighted at Thursday’s ribbon cutting in Southeast Albuquerque are a drop in the bucket. However, officials characterized the opening as an important first step and said it will work in conjunction with other efforts.

“It is essential to establish touchpoints throughout the city that provide pathways out of homelessness and access to vital resources, including case management services,” the city’s Director of Health, Housing, and Homelessness Gilbert Ramirez said in a statement. “This is not something we can achieve alone. We need the support of our faith-based community and partners throughout the city.”

The ribbon-cutting unveiled the first safe outdoor space, a managed campsite where people who are homeless can sleep in tents or vehicles and access showers and bathrooms, in a lot owned by the New Creation Church Albuquerque on Zuni. Safe outdoor spaces were narrowly approved by the Albuquerque City Council in 2022.

Three years later, Mayor Tim Keller said the ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday was about more than a photo opportunity or publicity stunt. Instead, it was about sending a message.

“We need, like, 100 of these all over our city as soon as possible,” Keller said, adding that churches were in a unique position to support that mission while the city continued investing in larger shelters. “We have to meet people where they’re at, both literally, but also in terms of their needs.”

New Creation Pastor Jesse Harden, who emceed the ribbon cutting and oversees the safe outdoor space, said that homelessness is a symptom of broken and failed systems.

“While we work on the systemic causes, we have to provide a humane and immediate response to people who are living on the street, fellow human beings and neighbors,” Harden said. “And so this safe outdoor space attempts to be just that.”