Last week, the City of Santa Fe took initial steps toward building micro-communities for those without shelter, however, despite announcing no locations, the action stirred fear and protest from the NIMBY set.
Less than a year after establishing a pilot project of 25 temporary pallet houses for homeless people at the local Christ Lutheran Church, operated with the help of community mental health center The Life Link, the Santa Fe City Council unanimously approved $2 million to fund a project that would expand these “micro-communities” of tiny homes into other areas of the city.
However, further details of the project—such as the land that will be used for the pallet homes— remain unknown. The approval of the funding drew in several residents across town, divided on whether the city should expand the pallet home program—especially if they believed new pallet homes would be built near their neighborhoods.
Leah O’Shell, a resident from District 4, wrote to the Governing Body that the expanded pallet home project is “a disaster shanty town waiting to happen.”
“Our city condones too much already. This is just an open invitation to more disarray,” O’Shell’s letter said. “A large portion of our homeless population are using drugs and committing crimes, increasingly making our city unsafe.”
Another resident from that district, Matthew Downing, criticized the idea of pallet housing being built near his home.
“Bottom line, you're inviting more crime, more drug use and more mental illness into the community without addressing or treating any of it. That you all know all of this and still think moving forward with this plan is a good idea, shows a blatant disregard for your constituents,” Downing said at the meeting. “We all know Pete's Place is an unmanageable blight on the community, and yet you want to introduce an even larger blight directly next to a neighborhood that is largely comprised of retired senior citizens.”
Many residents present at the meeting referenced specific locations that would be near their homes, after posts circulating on Facebook spread rumors that 10 specific sites were being considered for hundreds of pallet homes, citing a study the city’s Office of Affordable Housing and Office of Economic Development commissioned. Most of the designated locations on a map of the city were in districts 2 and 4.
However, Community Health and Safety Director Henri Hammond-Paul would later clarify during a presentation at the meeting that this study was not for the pallet homes for the homeless at all, but was a study of viable locations to build permanent affordable housing.
According to Hammond-Paul’s presentation, there is a deficiency in temporary housing and shelters for the homeless population that necessitates more pallet homes to be built. The New Mexico Coalition to End Homelessness counted 385 actively homeless people within the city, and since emergency housing capacity consists of about 280 beds, the city has a deficit of 105 beds. Hammond-Paul also noted the true rate of homelessness could be between 2.5 and 10.2 times what they counted, which would indicate between 963 and 3,927 homeless people in the city.
Last year, Hammond-Paul says, Santa Fe Public Schools reported 741 homeless youth, with nearly 6% of all high school students in the county experiencing homelessness.
Hammond-Paul also reported some of the effects of the current pallet housing at Christ Lutheran Church, noting that of 29 residents, five residents have since been able to move into permanent housing and another five are on a wait-list for housing. Three residents completed a substance detox, four residents started medical-assisted treatment programs, six residents supplied birth certificates and six secured IDs.
He also argued the pallet homes are cost-effective and reduce emergency service demands while creating “structured, supervised environments” that reduce public safety concerns that come with unsanctioned homeless encampments, especially because those living in the temporary homes are not required to leave during the day as they are with shelters.
Hammond-Paul also noted the city hosts monthly meetings with neighbors of the current site at Christ Lutheran, and says the project has been “very well received.”
Those involved with homeless shelters, outreach and the current Christ Lutheran site also turned up at the meeting to support the pallet home expansion.
Joe Dudziak, a local chaplain who runs a street outreach program for the homeless, spoke in support of the pallet homes, saying they’ve been “proven to be a benefit for the community.”
“For the people who can't or won't go to shelters, there's no safe place in town for the homeless. It's very unsafe out there, and these pallet homes are a safe place for people to be, where they can get the services they need while they transition,” Dudziak said at the meeting. “So I'm in strong support of that. It'll be a benefit to the community.”
Korina Lopez, Director of Interfaith Community Shelter at Pete’s Place, also noted during public forum that while the pallet homes are not a solution to homelessness like housing is, she stands in support of the project.
“The micro-community initiative adds needed shelter options to the City of Santa Fe,” Lopez said. “We hope the City Council will find the courage to support, not only this, but also the other shelters.”
John Bacon, a case manager at The Life Link who was formerly homeless, spoke of his experience as someone who did not have access to pallet housing when speaking in support of its expansion as he referred to the Christ Lutheran site as a “resounding success.”
“I lived in a tent up in the Santa Fe National Forest. I wouldn't stay in a congregate shelter because I didn't want to have the temptations of drugs or alcohol,” Bacon said. “I was employed, and I took showers at [Fort Marcy Recreation Complex] on my way to work. It was cold and wet every morning. I wish I had an opportunity to stay in a micro community.
In the future, Hammond-Paul says, any site planning for the project will be conducted with a community engagement strategy. A timeline he presented at the meeting noted “Winter 2025” as the time frame in which the city would present site details, gather feedback and address concerns from city councilors, neighborhood associations, businesses and residents.
From there, the city would develop “good neighbor agreements” with neighbors, service providers and city staff to outline communications and problem-solving processes related to the site, and host regular meetings to keep neighbors informed.
However, locations for the expanded pallet homes are still unplanned. Previously, the city released a Request for Qualifications to seek out privately-owned properties to host new pallet shelter sites, as well as providers to operate the locations.
Finding a private host for additional pallet homes may prove difficult: for the initial pallet home site, Christ Lutheran Church was the only bidder to be a host site, and only two operators had responded to the city’s search for the pilot program. In August last year, Mayor Alan Webber told SFRhe didn’t anticipate issues finding other locations and providers, but said there are sites the city owns that “could be candidates” for the expansion effort.
District 4 City Councilor Jamie Cassutt confirmed with the mayor that the path forward for the pallet homes expansion could include using private sites, public sites or a combination of the two.
“At this moment in time, we do not know which scenario is going to come into being, and that is forthcoming, and part of that community engagement process that we've discussed,” Cassutt said.
Although District 2 City Councilor Michael Garcia ultimately voted with the other councilors and Webber to approve the $2 million, citing the city’s need to have the resources to move forward with the project, he emphasized his belief that the city needs to do more to engage with the community about projects of this scale.
“Community engagement, unfortunately, is not in the vocabulary of this administration,” Garcia said. “The public has a right to be confused by the lack of information that's being provided to them.”
