What’s new at Gateway Center? A $1.7 million patio for unhoused women

Albuquerque's newest patio isn't serving brunch. But city officials hope it'll be a welcome addition for the women residents of the Housing and Treatment Navigation Center at the Gateway campus.

City officials celebrated the completion of a patio space on the south side of the Gibson Gateway Center, an amenity intended to enhance the quality of life for residents.

The $1.7 million outdoor addition includes sunshades, a designated smoking area, benches, tables and a small dog run. It will serve as a key feature of the women's Navigation Center — part of the city's strategy to reduce homelessness through Gateway services.

Mayor Tim Keller referred to the area as a backyard for the Navigation Center. "It's also part of who we are as people, but also as New Mexicans," he said. "We need X amount of sunshine every day."

The 2024 point-in-time count, a survey that estimates the number of unhoused people by enumeration and shelter data on a single night in January, measured 2,248 unhoused residents. The same survey said that number is "certainly an undercount."

Reducing homelessness and mitigating its root causes has been a priority of the Keller administration and his reelection bid. It has drawn criticism amid a rising unsheltered population, despite the city's investments.

That investment includes $53.7 million in the upcoming fiscal year for service contracts for the Health, Housing and Homelessness Department (HHH), which oversees the Gateway operations.

The Navigation Center is one of the most critical components of that investment, according to HHH Director Gilbert Ramírez. The Navigation Center offers overnight beds and case management to support residents in achieving housing stability and requires a referral.

Lisa, a resident of the Navigation Center for five weeks, said the patio is a welcome addition. She said it would be nice to have a place to smoke and a place to take her dog.

"To me, it's just amazing that they would even take the time to do that for us," she said.

The patio will also double as an entrance to the Women's Navigation Center.

"The welcoming experience you get as you walk in is so important, especially when you're at your lowest point," Ramírez said.

Ramírez said federal capital outlay dollars funded the patio's construction.

"It's part of us just trying to make sure that we have as many of those little things that make people's journey through the gateway a little bit better," Keller said.