Closing Programs at the Lexington Hotel

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts." Winston Churchill

Dear Friends, supporters, donors, partners, colleagues,

I am writing to you today with great sadness because 

We are closing programs at the Lexington Hotel

We must close transitional and permanent supportive housing at the Lexington Hotel on September 30.

Please know that we are helping our tenants find housing as best as we can.  We have referred veterans to the VA for assistance.   Navajo residents are being referred to the Section 8 program at Navajo Housing Authority and to Gallup Housing Authority.

Residents are being encouraged to look for private housing in the community.  

Please pray for us and our tenants because we have a chronic shortage of decent affordable housing in this community.

Why is this happening?

CARE 66 does not have the resources to provide support services, transitional housing and permanent supportive housing.  We have accumulated significant debts and we can no longer pay our expenses.

In short, we ran out of money.

The Lexington Hotel was set up to be a model for a one-stop support services shop with a “Housing First” model of housing at its center.  

We provided case management, connected people to jobs and benefits, and got people into homes.  

All of this takes skilled employees and costs money.  More than $500,000 per year.  Our revenues are less than $80,000/year.

In the long-term, we wanted to add about 80 to 100 units of permanent supportive housing so that we could get closer to self-sufficiency.  We never did find the money.

What will happen to CARE 66?

            CARE 66 will regroup and figure out how it can help address the issues of poverty, affordable housing and jobs in this community.  

            We have accumulated much experience and believe that we can continue to contribute to the future well being of this community.

Achievements:

We are proud of our contributions to this community over the last 14 years.  They include:

• Developing Chuska Apartments
• Establishing a Native American Housing First model that works
• Rehabilitating the Lexington Hotel
• Developing Hooghan Ho’zho

Over the last 14 years, we brought over $20 million in investment to this community.

In addition, in every year:

•       We received 12,000 calls for assistance with housing. 
•       We received about 3000 volunteer hours,
•       Helped our clients get about 12,000 hours of work,
•       Placed about 65% of our transitional housing clients in permanent housing, and had about 20 people stay in transitional housing every night.
•       Helped 5000 caller or walk-ins

We were, and are not, perfect but we did the best we could with what we had.  We are sad that it has come to this.  We would gladly continue operating if we had the money. 

On a personal note,  sad as I am, I would do this all over again because at least we tried to do something about homelessness and poverty.  The work of the Lexington Hotel has been an act of love and perseverance.  We have tried to help people get back on their feet, equip them with the knowledge that they are capable of achieving their dreams, and most importantly, that they are not condemned to the suffering of mental illness, drug abuse and homelessness.

I want to thank all of you: staff, donors, board members, friends far and near who have encouraged us, supported us and made the many miracles of this work happen.  It's been an amazing journey.

We are looking for a buyer for the Lexington Hotel.  Please tell people who might be interested.

You can still help by making a contribution on the Paypal link on this blog, if you want to.

PS: The closing of programs at the Lexington Hotel has very little to do with Hooghan Ho'zho.

Please get and submit an application below:

Renee Otero, HCM-R, HCM-HF
Assistant Site-Manager
Hooghan Hozho Apartments
601 Dani Drive
Gallup, NM 87301
(505) 258-1547

Gallup Journey Column May 2012

May 2012.  We are busy.  Hooghan Hozho’ is being engineered as we speak.  We are awaiting approval for second phase funding and from other grants that we have applied for.

Theresa Lee has been promoted to Chief Financial Officer of CARE 66.  She has done stellar job since she came to work for us last year.  She has led us through two audits successfully and has been a very welcome addition to the leadership team at CARE 66.

Fitz Sargent is designing a gate for the Lexington Hotel courtyard.  I have seen some preliminary sketches and they look very good.

Yours truly has been nominated as Non-Profit Leader of 2012 by the New Mexico Coalition to End Homelessness to recognize people and projects that have gone above and beyond the call of duty to help homeless people in New Mexico.

As usual, with ground breaking for one project imminent, we are planning and imagining other projects that will provide housing, address poverty, provide children and their parents with opportunities to succeed while helping make this town even better for everybody. 

Until next month stay well and do good!  

Gallup Journey Column April 2012

April 2012.  Onward and upward!  We are busy.  The finishing touches for the Lexington are being or have been done.  We are working on the next project and the one after it.

The next project is Hooghan Hozho’.  It has many components.  There is a new building with about 45 units – mostly two bedrooms.  The new building also includes a café/restaurant, an Early Childhood Development Center, office spaces for support services and administration, play spaces, open areas, parking, etc etc. 

The other phase for which we are currently seeking monies is the rehab of Carl’s Radio and TV aka the Liberty Hotel which will contain efficiency or SRO apartments.  We are trying to build these projects as green as possible.  By green we mean energy efficient - which means that we are looking at the possibility of generating electricity or heating water, - and if we don’t have enough money, to wire/plumb the building for when we do have money.

I want to thank all of you for your kindness and generosity in helping get the remodel of the Lexington Hotel done.  As is the case for the any project like this, we are indebted to far more people than it is possible to name, for kindnesses both large and small that helped us to move along.

Until next month stay well and do good!  

Gallup Journey Column March 2012

It’s official.  We have moved into the Lexington Hotel.  We are slowly settling in and discovering the wonders and joys of living in an almost new building.

            Work on Hooghan Hozho’ is next phase of the dream after the Lexington Hotel.  This project will be a mixed-income i.e. it will provide market-rate apartments and affordable apartments for low to moderate income families.  It will also provide space for a coffee shop, an Early Childhood Development Center, support services and CARE 66 administration, if all goes according to plan.

            We are confronting the nitty gritty details that all projects have in abundance while we study the city code, our building plans and beg for money. 

Until next month stay well and do good!