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.

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!  

Gallup Journey Column February 2012

It’s official.  We have moved into the Lexington Hotel.  We have moved people living on our Transitional Shelter at Frances Opportunity Center to the ground floor of the Lexington Hotel.  And, former residents of the Lexington Hotel have been moved back to their place of residence.

            CARE 66 administration offices have moved to the basement of the GJU building.  We will be there for the next 18 months until our new offices, which will be part of the Hooghan Hozho’ development, are completed on Strong Drive, which we hope will be sooner.

            The Lexington Hotel is a labor of love and we could not have done it without your support.  Together with locally raised funds we leveraged monies from the State Legislature, HUD, ARRA, Navajo Housing Authority, and private foundations.  We are very grateful to each of these funders and we look forward to working with them on future projects.

           Rhonda Berg, Peter Tarutis and Carl Smith have worked very hard to complete this project.  Please congratulate them when you see them.

           Many years ago it was our dream to provide a place where people could transition from homelessness to a home of their own while still having access to support services.  We now move onto the next phase of this dream.  Naturally, there will be bugs to be worked out and new challenges to be faced. 

Until next month stay well and do good! 

Come to the Lexington Open House

Lexington Open House

Gallup Journey Column July 2011

July 2011.  You are cordially invited to the Lexington Rehab Open House on Friday, July 22^nd, 2011 from 11:30 to 1:00pm.  A light lunch will be served along with small group tours of construction areas and a presentation of how the facility will be better able to serve homeless men and women.

We will also have a list of things we need for different spaces and what they will cost along with some volunteer opportunities to complete the Lexington.  Bring your check book since we never do an event without providing an opportunity for people to give.

The Mother Road Bicycle Classic formerly known as the CARE 66 Gran Fondo is scheduled for, Saturday September 17^th.  We will also have events for kids at the Courthouse Square.  Ride options are for approximately, 66, 40 and 20 miles.  Start training now!  Collect donations from your friends, co-workers and family so that you can earn a classy CARE 66 coffee mug. If you don’t think you can ride the entire distance of the ride you would like to do, you can do it as a team.

          Until next month stay well and do good! 

Lexington Rehab Open House

You are invited to the Lexington Rehab Open House

Friday, July 22, 2011

11:30 to 1:00 pm

405 West Highway 66 (between 4th and 5th street on Route 66)

Lexington Hotel Rehab Flyer

Why:

• Enjoy the company of fellow CARE 66 supporters
•  See drawings and plans for the rehab
• Learn about volunteer opportunities
• Learn about about what we still need
• Meet the staff and Board of CARE 66
• Enjoy green chili burgers and summer salads

OK...we can't do a ground breaking.  Somebody did that in 1931.  Asbestos abatement has been completed and we hope to move our clients and service staff into the Lexington as soon as its completed.  And, yes, we will have a grand opening party too.

If you would like to tell us that you are coming or would like to bring something please call us at (505) 722-0066 and speak to Tiffany or email us at lexington.

Lexington Prespectives

We have recieved some renderings for the proposed rehabilitation for the Lexington Hotel from our architect.  We have signed a contract for asbestos abatement with a local contractor and work is scheduled to being in late April.

We are planning to work with YouthBuild to conduct the rehab for this project.  Rehab will begin as soon as the abatement work is completed.

We are still awaiting design approval from the State Historic Preservation Office for the addition of an external elevator to the building.  An external elevator is both cost effective and helps us preserve the character of the building.

Closing on the Lexington

John and Pat Rosendall the former owners of the Lexington Hotel watch as documents are signed. John and Pat renovated the Lexington, which was a dump, when they first acquired it. It has been a labor of love for them and we hope to continue their good work. We thank them for investing their sweat, blood and tears. Thank you Pat and John.

Joseph Esparza and Jane Ann Polich sign closing documents on the Lexington Hotel on March 13 with Veronica Williams. CARE 66 now has the capacity to provide low income housing to 27 individuals. After renovations, estimated at $635,000 we will be able to provide transitional housing to homeless men and women including veterans. Renovations will increase capacity by about 25.

Governor Richardson

Governor Richardson came to Gallup today. I was able to talk with him very briefly about getting our grant monies released. Hopefully something will happen soon.