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.

9th Mother Road Bicycle Classic

Saturday 

September 8, 2018

CARE 66 is proud to announce its ninth Annual Mother Road Bicycle Classic fundraiser to be held 
Saturday September 8, 2018 

to support affordable housing and support services for homeless people in Gallup. This pledge cycling event features a course through the beautiful areas surrounding Gallup. 

Event Information

Four route alternatives for cyclists of all skill levels are available:

• The Whole Enchilada 66 mile route click here
• Habanero 40 mile route click here
• Green Chili 20 mile route here
• Red Chili 10 mile route here

Entry fee is $66 (plus raised pledges) per rider.  If you bring $150+ in pledges, your entry fee is waived. 

Please click here to download the Registration Packet which includes instructions for collecting and submitting pledges. 

Pledges can be as little as $5 or as much as $100,000.  You’ll be surprised at how the small ones add up.  All gifts are tax deductible. Instructions for collecting pledges are included in the registration packet above.

Registration begins at 8:00 AM at the Lexington Hotel (407 West Highway 66 between 4th and 5th Streets) and all rides begin at 8:30 AM.  Some rides will be supported with food and drink stops as well as basic repair supplies. 

Please be advised that roads will not be closed for this event.  Riders will be responsible for following designated rules of the road and will be responsible for his or her safety.

All proceeds will help CARE 66 fulfill its mission “to create opportunities to end homelessness.

To register or to submit pledges, please click on our following secure Paypal link below.  If you register online, please put 4MRBC in the subject line:

Memorial Service for Bernhard Schulze

Bernhard was a resident of the Lexington off and on since 2012.  Prior to that he worked for the City of Gallup and Chuska Apartments. 

He passed away on January 12, 2018.

We will celebrate his life  on Tuesday, January 23, at 2:00 in the Courthouse Plaza.  Following the memorial service we can swap stories over coffee and cookies at the Lexington Hotel.  The Lexington Hotel is at 407 West Highway 66 between 4th and 5th  Streets.

8th Mother Road Bicycle Classic

Saturday 

October 14, 2017

CARE 66 is proud to announce its Sixth Annual Mother Road Bicycle Classic fundraiser to be held Saturday October 14, 2017 to support affordable housing and support services for homeless people in Gallup. This pledge cycling event features a course through historic downtown Gallup, NM and surrounding area. 

Event Information

Four route alternatives for cyclists of all skill levels are available:

• The Whole Enchilada 66 mile route click here
• Habanero 40 mile route click here
• Green Chili 20 mile route here
• Red Chili 10 mile route here

Entry fee is $66 (plus raised pledges) per rider.  If you bring $150+ in pledges, your entry fee is waived. 

Please click here to download the Registration Packet which includes instructions for collecting and submitting pledges. 

Pledges can be as little as $5 or as much as $100,000.  You’ll be surprised at how the small ones add up.  All gifts are tax deductible. Instructions for collecting pledges are posted on our website (www.care66.org) and blog (care66.blogspot.com). 

Riders who raise more than $150 will receive a mug, and all registered riders will receive a commemorative t-shirt. 

Registration begins at 8:00 AM at the Lexington Hotel (407 West Highway 66 between 4th and 5th Streets) and all rides begin at 8:30 AM.  Some rides will be supported with food and drink stops as well as basic repair supplies. 

Please be advised that roads will not be closed for this event.  Riders will be responsible for following designated rules of the road and will be responsible for his or her safety.

All proceeds will help CARE 66 fulfill its mission “to create opportunities to end homelessness.


To register or to submit pledges, please click on our following secure Paypal link below.  If you register online, please put 4MRBC in the subject line:

NAHASDA Saved Lives

&

It Can Save More

It Created Affordable Housing and Services in Gallup

NAHASDA, a HUD funded program (Native American Housing Assistance and Self Determination Act of 1996) administered by Indian tribes, has funded CARE 66 programs that given people a home and a second chance at life. NAHASDA is a very flexible program and when done right could stimulate investment, prosperity and access to opportunity.

In the light of the recent articles in the Arizona Republic and KOB Albuquerque, I would like to offer a few thoughts and some perspective, in no particular order.  I would also like to add that, in my experience, these revelations generally have negative impacts on the program.  NAHASDA has helped save lives in this community.

For the last ten years, CARE 66 has worked with the Navajo tribe to address homelessness and affordable housing in Gallup. 

About a third of the costs of renovating the Lexington Hotel came from the Navajo Nation.  The Lexington Hotel provides shelter, it is also great example of the Housing First model of permanent supportive housing in Gallup.  A majority of our clients are Navajo.

Similarly, the Nation contributed about 68% or $7.1 million of the development costs for Hooghan Ho’zho in downtown Gallup.  Thirty of the units are set aside for Native American families.

·         Leadership: A lot depends upon the capacity and vision of the leadership.  Our projects were correctly perceived to be innovative.  By extension, innovative is difficult.  It requires persistence, engagement and hard work. 

·         Learning: Innovation demands learning.  We had to learn how to work off reservation with rules designed for working on reservations.  We had to learn to trust and to recognize that setbacks would be part of the process. 

·         Partnership: Because the Nation was not providing all of the funding we had to learn to work with USDA, HUD, a private bank, a technical assistance provider and lender, and a religious lender.  In addition, we had to work within city, county and state regulations.

·         Flexibility: NAHASDA can be very flexible.  However, this flexibility needs to be implemented in a consensus across a range of departments and perspectives.  This takes a lot of meetings.

In the City of Gallup, our market study show that approximately 1000 Native American families are in need and able to afford some kind of affordable housing.  This is almost half the Native population of Gallup.

In conclusion, NAHASDA can work very well if all parties are willing to work together towards common goals.