Chas. William Holman (Chuck), is the author of “Ask & You Shall Receive”, a semi-retired businessman and a community leader. In 1977, Holman was ordained as a minister by the East Mountain Calvary Church. Chuck Holman has been helping the homeless in one way or the other since 1985, when he volunteered to be the Overnight Director for an overnight shelter in Atlanta, Georgia. Chas. William Holman (Chuck) submitted the below guest opinion column to be published on www.PeteDinelli.com.
EDITORS DISCLAIMER: Mr. Holman was not compensated for his opinion column and the column is being published as a public service. The opinions expressed in the opinion column are not necessarily those of www.PeteDinelli.com.
A FIVE-YEAR PATH TO ENDING STREET HOMELESSNESS IN ALBUQUERQUE
By Chas. Wm. “Chuck” Holman, Guest Columnist
Albuquerque has spent decades treating homelessness as a perennial crisis. Yet we stand today on the edge of a breakthrough—one driven not by more government programs, but by real results happening quietly on our streets. It is time to recognize what works, strengthen it, and scale it.
STATE OF THE HEART RECOVERY
For nearly two years, State of the Heart Recovery (SAHR) led by Paul Chavez, has achieved something extraordinary. With no city funding and using primarily Medicaid dollars, the organization now serves more than 1,000 people through methadone treatment, counseling, and long-term recovery. Even more remarkable, 33% of those individuals are already living in stable housing—beds, apartments, and small homes throughout Albuquerque.
This is the kind of measurable, human-scale progress our community has been longing for. And it is exactly the kind of model I described in my book, 7 Steps to Ending Homelessness, where I wrote:
“Homelessness ends one person at a time, with one relationship at a time, through a system that meets people where they are—not where a bureaucracy hopes they will be.”
Now, State of the Heart Recovery plans to scale the model ten-fold over the next five years—to serve 5,000 people struggling with addiction and serious mental illness. If fully supported, this would stabilize nearly every individual currently living unsheltered on our streets.
But they cannot do it alone. It will require real leadership—public, private, and faith-based—to build what Albuquerque has lacked for far too long:
“A unified human-services ecosystem where data, accountability, and compassion work together.”
WHAT WE ARE MISSING: A UNIFIED BY-NAME LIST
Fifteen cities across America have ended chronic or veteran homelessness through the Built for Zero model, which begins with one crucial tool:
A single, shared, real-time by-name list.
In Albuquerque, we have the opposite—fragmented databases held by the City, HMIS/HMS federal systems, nonprofits, and clinics. Without a unified list:
- No one truly knows [with complete accuracy] how many people live on our streets.
- No one knows who they are.
- No one knows where they are in the recovery process.
- No one knows what services they’ve received—or what they need next.
- And no one can measure whether programs are working—or failing.
For less than $1 million, Albuquerque could build a modern, integrated database that tracks each person from street outreach to treatment, detox, housing, and long-term stability. State of the Heart Recovery has already begun building their own internal tracking system, proving again that solutions can come from the ground up.
RESULTS OVER PROGRAMS
The Gateway Center is a well-intentioned investment, but buildings alone cannot solve homelessness. As I wrote in Step 4 of my 7 Steps:
“Programs don’t end homelessness. Results do. Housing, treatment, and accountability must be measured in real time.”
City and county dollars should not fund more overhead, more committees, or more administrative staff. Instead, we must adopt a results-based funding model, paying organizations like State of the Heart Recovery for outcomes:
- People off the street
- People in recovery
- People housed
- People stable for 12 to 36 months
This is what Medicaid is already paying for. The City and County should align funding with the same principle.
THE ROLE OF FAITH AND COMMUNITY
No five-year plan can succeed without the involvement of Albuquerque’s churches, business owners, volunteers, and neighborhood leaders. Compassion is the engine of change. In Step 6 of my book, I wrote:
“The faith community is the greatest untapped resource in the fight against homelessness. When churches say yes, cities transform.”
Hope in Action, the outreach arm of The ABQ Plan, stands ready to mobilize volunteers, mentor individuals, support housing, and build relational bridges no government agency can offer.
A FIVE-YEAR PLAN
If Albuquerque commits to this partnership—State of the Heart Recovery, Hope in Action, local nonprofits, private enterprise, and results-based public investment—we can:
- Build the database
- Scale treatment to 5,000+ people
- House thousands
- Reduce street homelessness by 80–90%
- Reach functional zero for homelessness driven by addiction, by mental health issues, and by addiction with co-occurring mental-health issues.
This city can solve homelessness in five years. The solutions already exist. The people doing the work are already proving it.
We simply need the courage to support what works.
Respectfully submitted,
Chas. Wm. (Chuck) Holman
Visit ChuckHolman.com for more information or email Chuck@TheAbqPlan.org’
2025 POINT-IN-TIME COUNT OF UNHOUSED
On November 17, the New Mexico Coalition to End Homelessness released the 2025 Point-In-Time (PIT) Report for the numbers of unhoused in Albuquerque counted in one day. This year’s PIT count occurred on the night of Wednesday January 22, 2025. The link to review the entire 62-page 2024 PIT report is here:
2025 PIT REPORT IN A NUTSHELL
The highlights of the 2025 Point-In-Time (PIT) Report data can be summarized as follows:
The report showed 29,735 people were engaged with “any part of New Mexico’s homeless response system in 2024.”
New Mexico Public Education Department data showed 10,533 students identified as experiencing homelessness during the 2024-25 school year.
Men are more prevalent than women in emergency shelters and in unsheltered situations.
The report also had the following statistics:
2,960 total homeless people were reported in Albuquerque, broken down as follows:
- 8% increase of people reporting homelessness for first time
- 1,367 are reported as unsheltered people
- 1,327 are reported in emergency shelters which is up from 658 in 2011
- 266 in transitional housing with women more prevalent than men in this type of housing
- 2,566 total are reported as homeless groups/families in Albuquerque
1,723 total homeless people throughout the rest of New Mexico is broken down as follows:
- 779 unsheltered people
- 774 in emergency shelters
- 170 in transitional housing
- 39% of people reported experiencing homelessness for first time
There are 1,417 total homeless groups/families throughout the rest of New Mexico
The Percentage of women citing domestic violence in Albuquerque: 30.3%
The Percentage of women citing domestic violence throughout the rest of New Mexico: 36.2%
The Percentage of unsheltered people with military service in Albuquerque: 8.61%
The Percentage of unsheltered people with military service throughout the rest of New Mexico: 8.55%
CITY’S FINANCIAL COMMITMENT TO HOMELESS
In the last three years, the city has spent upwards of $300 million on homeless shelters, programs and purchasing and remodeling motels for low-income housing. In 2021, the city acquired the Lovelace Hospital complex on Gibson for $15 million and has spent upwards of $90 million to remodel it into the Gateway shelter.
The fiscal year 2026 approved General Fund budget for the Health, Housing and Homelessness Department is $53.3 million. The sum includes $48 million for strategic support, health and human services, affordable housing, mental health services, emergency shelter services, homeless support services, shelter operations, substance abuse services and $4.2 million for the Gibson Gateway maintenance division.
https://www.abqjournal.com/news/article_42aba680-62c4-4228-95a2-da72df1a34e1.html
The Gateway Network consists of 5 shelters costing a staggering $300 Million dollars spent over the last 3 years to assist upwards of 3,000 to 5,000 unhoused. The City has become New Mexico’s de facto “homeless capitol” providing shelter and services to the homeless for all communities throughout New Mexico. The problem is that the City and the State’s unhoused numbers are getting worse and not any better after spending millions.
The Gateway Network of support for people struggling with homelessness and addiction consists of the following:
- Gateway Center– Campus providing medical, behavioral, and social services including overnight beds, first responder intake, medical sobering and respite.
- Gateway West – Safe, supportive 660-bed facility for individuals experiencing homelessness, offering specialized resources and case management. (Annual Impact: 5,700 Individuals. Open 24/7 Since 2019)
- Gateway Family – Supportive housing center for families with overnight beds, meals, and case management to help achieve stable housing. (Annual Impact: 987 Individuals Open Since 2020.
- Gateway Recovery– 50-resident micro-community offering low-barrier beds, recovery services, and support for 18 – 24 months. Annual projected Impact: 50 – 100. Opening Early 2025
- Gateway Young Adult – Housing and support for young adults ages 15-25 experiencing homelessness, tailored to their unique needs. (Annual projected Impact: 120 Individuals. Opening Late 2025.)
COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS
What sticks out is the staggering amount of $300 Million spent over three years to establish the five Gateway shelter system with upwards of $60 Million a year now being spent to try and provide assistance to so few, estimated to be upwards of 3,000 unhoused identified by the PIT count, with upwards of 75% refusing services. Complicating matters is the fact that the 2025 PIT study found nearly 50% of respondents were not from New Mexico. There has got to be a better way than just throwing money at the problem and East Mountain Calvary Church Minister Chas. William Holman points to a better way.
Minister Chas. William Holman is absolutely correct when he opines:
“The Gateway Center is a well-intentioned investment, but buildings alone cannot solve homelessness. … Programs don’t end homelessness. Results do. Housing, treatment, and accountability must be measured in real time. … No … plan can succeed without the involvement of Albuquerque’s churches, business owners, volunteers, and neighborhood leaders.
Mayor Tim Keller and the City would be wise to follow the recommendations Minister Chas. William Holman and implement a “Built for Zero” model, which would begin with creating the crucial tool of a single, shared, real-time by-name list. Further, the city could easily fund and implement a Heart Recovery (SAHR) program to deal with drug addiction and serious mental illness as a complement to the services being provided by the city.
The link to a related article is here: