Opportunity Knocks
Care 66 gives homeless a hand up

Care 66 executive director Sonjay Choudhrie and program director Kristin Reeder talk Wednesday about the struggles in keeping their organization running and their plans for the future, which include a low-income apartment complex to help keep individuals and families from becoming homeless. [Photo by Jeff Jones/Independent]

By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Staff Writer

The sun filters into the otherwise darkened sleeping area of Care 66 in Gallup. Unlike a homeless shelter, Care 66 is set up to help homeless men get jobs and take other neccesary steps toward moving into permanent living situations. The facility is in need of donations for operational expenses as well as furniture and clothing. [Photo by Jeff Jones/Independent]

GALLUP — Twelve isn't a particularly large number.

But when one considers that 12 men are now off the streets of Gallup and are working to put their lives back together, it seems a rather significant number.

For the folks at Care 66, it's a beginning. And it's a beginning they hope will lead to a more significant impact on the local community in the future.

Sanjay Choudhrie, Kristin Reeder, and Dr. Tom Richtsmeier of Care 66 talked on Thursday about the assistance the nonprofit organization could use from community members, its current programs to help the homeless in Gallup and its goals for the near future. Choudhrie is Care 66's executive director, Reeder is the program director, and Richtsmeier is the president of the organization's board.

Shared concerns
Just as much of the inspiration for Care 66 came from the personal concerns of Reeder and Richtsmeier, its establishment as an organization actually grew out of the trunk of Reeder's car.

A transplant from St. Louis with a background in social work and an interest in the homeless, Reeder was dismayed by the lack of available services in Gallup. Back in St. Louis, when a homeless person hit her up for money, Reeder knew all the ins and outs to referring the person for available social services.

"I had all those answers," she said. "But here, there were no answers."

Reeder began considering all the services that were needed to help Gallup's homeless population. "I've had a vision of this center in my head for a long time," she said.

Richtsmeier had similar ideas. A physician at the Gallup Indian Medical Center, Richtsmeier had been concerned about the fate of patients who had no families or homes to go to when they were discharged from the hospital.

Both Reeder and Richtsmeier became involved in Mayor Bob Rosebrough's task force on homelessness. And according to Choudhrie, for about one year, Care 66 first operated out of Reeder's car. With her vehicle stocked with basic necessities to share, Reeder hit Gallup's streets, alleys, and arroyos to talk with the city's homeless individuals about what services they would actually use.

Care 66 needs
No longer operating out of Reeder's car, Care 66 opened in October 2005 as the Care 66 Opportunity Center in a building located behind the Gallup Police Department. The building currently features a kitchen, dining area, living room, dorm rooms, a used clothing room and a couple of offices.

The organization's small group of staff members and volunteers are currently working to pull classrooms, office space, and more beds together to meet program needs.

Care 66 is currently looking for more community members willing to donate their time and talent as volunteers, as well as individuals willing to donate men's clothing, office supplies, other useful items, and financial contributions. In particular, Care 66 is looking for community groups to volunteer to prepare a meal for the transitional housing residents.

In addition, Choudhrie said Care 66 is currently working to purchase more mattresses so more men can be admitted into the transitional housing program. According to Choudhrie, men in the program have to be clean and sober, and they have to participate in a relationship skills class, meet weekly with their case manager, and be actively working toward exiting the program and supporting themselves.

"We had a waiting list after the second day," he said. The men currently on the waiting list, he added, "have a minimum of six months of sobriety."

Those individuals who aren't willing to follow the requirements can't be in the program, said Richtsmeier. Although dealing with substance abuse issues is not a main focus of the organization, Care 66 does have to deal with it, he said. "It comes with the territory," he admitted.

Mental illness is a factor in the lives of many homeless individuals, Richtsmeier explained, and is likely to be a monitoring issue for some Care 66 clients.

Ambitious vision
Richtsmeier emphasized that many homeless people don't necessarily have problems with substance abuse or mental illness. Rather, they are people that have suffered one tremendous financial setback that has pushed them into homelessness.

In McKinley County, said Choudhrie, many families are "near-homeless," meaning their financial situation is so precarious that their ability to pay their rent and utilities is frequently at risk.

One of the goals of Care 66 is to provide "preventative management" for these near-homeless families by helping with their rent and utility bills rather than trying to help them after they've lost their homes and also by offering financial management classes.

Another goal is to build a 30-unit apartment building on land acquired near the intersection of Aztec Avenue and William St. Ten of the units will be reserved for homeless families on a transitional basis, and the other 20 apartments will be reserved for low-income families.

Care 66 plans to break ground on the construction project this November.

A third goal is to create jobs for Care 66 clients. One possibility being considered is to establish a "temp pool service" that local businesses could utilize to hire temporary workers.

"We have a big, ambitious vision," Choudhrie admitted. Although at times it seems that Care 66 organizers are "living on faith," he added, doors of opportunity keep opening to help Care 66 develop.

Thus far, most of Care 66's funds have come from the Southwest Indian Foundation, The Daniels Fund, the City of Gallup, McKinley County, a Catholic Charities' Stone Soup Grant, and the New Mexico Mortgage Finance Authority. Fund-raising for operating funds is an on-going effort.

— Reporter Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola can be contacted at (505) 863-6811 ext. 218 or ehardinburrola@yahoo.com.