Westside Emergency Housing Shelter and Coronavirus: “They Are Our Neighbors, Treat Them with Compassion” 
An Interview with City Councilor Lan Sena

Lan Sena, who represents District 1 on the Albuquerque City Council, is a native of Albuquerque and was appointed in March 2020 to represent the Westside district after the death of long-time city councilor Ken Sanchez.  Right now, the outbreak of COVID-19 at the Westside shelter is at the forefront of her mind.  Councilor Sena is very grateful to all those working so hard to keep Westside shelter residents safe and cared for.  She commented that people who are homeless are our neighbors who have fallen on hard times and need our help; kindness and compassion are in order.

The Westside Housing Shelter was formerly the Bernalillo County jail.  After the jail was moved elsewhere, the building was used briefly as a winter-only emergency shelter, then Mayor Keller made it the temporary city homeless shelter operating 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  The shelter is managed by Albuquerque Heading Home, a program of the New Mexico-based non-profit, Heading Home.  This non-profit is a collaboration of public, private and non-profit organizations who united in 2011 to end homelessness for individuals who are chronically homeless and medically vulnerable. 

Before the COVID-19 outbreak, the shelter housed about 300 residents but that has been reduced to about 250 in order to maintain appropriate social distancing.  Currently, the shelter holds those who are not positive for COVID-19 and there are no new residents.  Normal protocols of masking, social distancing and temperature-taking are observed.  The shelter is deep cleaned on a regular schedule.  It has a Medical Director, Dr. Laura Parajon, who is aided by a team of medical personnel.  Men, women, and families with children are housed in different “pods.”  Food, hot showers and even schooling for children is available.  Buses from the shelter pick up and drop off residents at four locations in downtown Albuquerque daily.

How did the latest COVID-19 outbreak start at the shelter?  Councilor Sena said that life in a pandemic is difficult for this vulnerable population.  Daily, they find themselves in compromised settings where sanitation is difficult, face coverings are not always available, and maintaining distance can be hard. Many of our unsheltered population also face mental and behavioral health issues, which present challenges of adhering to COVID safe practices. 

 The current outbreak started when one resident tested positive.  Contact tracing was conducted and many other residents were found to be positive.  All those who tested positive, including those who were asymptomatic, were moved to so-called COVID hotels, which are leased by the city to provide quarantine space in safe quarters. There, they are treated by medical personnel as necessary, fed and given space to recuperate.  If hospitalization is necessary, they are sent to the hospital.  

According to Councilor Sena, the city rents hotels not only to house COVID-positive individuals, but to provide safe space for individuals from lower-income families who for a variety of reasons, e.g. lack of space, cannot safely quarantine at home. 

Albuquerque is planning to build a new homeless shelter, to be called the Gateway Center, with $14 million in general obligation bonds approved by city voters in November 2018.  Several sites have been considered, including the building of many smaller centers, but according to Councilor Sena, what is really needed, at this moment, is one big site, possibly the old Lovelace hospital on Gibson Boulevard but she supports the idea of other sites as funding becomes available.  A larger building could house not only homeless people, but temporarily house those found on the streets under the influence of alcohol or drugs and provide them with some care and some help.  Councilor Sena realizes this is a big problem for the city, one which requires a new approach.  She also believes Mayor Keller’s proposal to create a new city department to deal with community safety issues, including homelessness, addiction, and mental health issues, to be a very positive step forward for Albuquerque.  

Councilor Sena asks all of us to take COVID-19 precautions with one another and when dealing with our unsheltered community, obey the same masking and social distancing rules that we do with everyone else in this era of coronavirus.  She also asks that we treat them with compassion and kindness, offering water and masks if we are able to do so in a safe way.  Greet them, speak to them, they need human interaction like all of us.

Monetary donations to help the Westside Shelter and the city in this crisis, can be made to the One Albuquerque Fund, https://www.cabq.gov/one-abq-housing-fund/one-abq-housing-fund