According to the story that the Albuquerque Journal reported earlier this month, a drug treatment center that was to house homeless women and their children in two locations was placed on hold because neighbors brought their concerns to the table. The city commissioner says extra research is in order. The center was to be in Bernalillo County. The community has voiced their opinion that they do not want to co-exist with the drug treatment center in the South Valley location.
The project had been called “Renee’s House,” named after a woman who had died of a drug overdose. It would have offered women and their children a place to stay, 24- hour supervision, drug treatment, alcohol treatment and would have provided valuable job skills and educational training to prepare them to enter the working world after about six to eight months in treatment. There would have been two locations. One in South Valley would have been for women on probation. The women who were not on probation would have been in the Heights.
The Mountain View Neighborhood Association made a comment that they’re not against services for women who are in need of drug treatment, but “this is not the place for a pilot program. If this was a tried and true program with a proven track record, it might be a different story.” –Patty Grice, President.
However, not all hope is lost; the home in the Heights can still go through with some renovations and be ready to open within the year.
The South Valley location is not only facing problems from neighboring homeowners associations, but also lacks proper public transportation, which would make simple tasks like grocery shopping and finding a job difficult for the women.
