HopeWorks Celebrates Behavioral Health Center Ribbon Cutting
ALBUQUERQUE- Today, HopeWorks, in partnership with the City of Albuquerque, held a Ribbon cutting for the HopeWorks Behavioral Health Center, a new support hub that will provide wrap-around services for those experiencing homelessness.
The center is located on 4th Street next to Hope Village, which provides permanent supportive housing and services for 42 individuals. The new center will work in tandem with the village to provide services to unsheltered individuals, individuals at risk of becoming homeless, and those with low to moderate incomes. HopeWorks expects to care for at least 244 clients at the Behavioral Health Center annually.
“We're creating touchpoints throughout our city for unsheltered folks to connect with vital services, and it can’t come a minute too soon temperatures are dropping in Albuquerque,” said Mayor Tim Keller. “It takes all of us coming together to address an issue as complex as homelessness. The HopeWorks Behavioral Health Center will be a crucial piece of the puzzle in meeting the needs of our unsheltered community.”
The center will be named the William R. Miller, PhD Behavioral Health Center. Miller is credited as a co-founder of motivational interviewing, a counseling style developed to help patients with substance use disorders.
The HopeWorks staff includes nurse practitioners, nurses, case managers, and licensed therapists who will deliver wraparound services to clients. The Outpatient Therapy Team will provide individual therapy and 12 therapy groups per month. The Comprehensive Community Support Services (CCSS) team will provide community resources and will help teach life skills. The center will also work in partnership with UNM Hospital to conduct on-site psychiatric evaluations for clients with traumatic brain injuries.
“The HopeWorks Behavioral Health Center will provide services to treat the whole person and uplift the most vulnerable in our community,” said Health, Housing and Homelessness Director, Gilbert Ramirez. “This will undoubtedly be a hub for healing, and we are proud to be a part of this transformational space.”
“We are thrilled to announce the opening of our state-of-the-art trauma-informed behavioral health center at HopeWorks,” said HopeWorks Interim CEO Vicky Palmer. “A heartfelt thank you to the City of Albuquerque for their vital funding. With this new facility, we look forward to delivering over 1,000 therapy services and broadening our reach to support our community's mental health needs.”
Designed by Doug Heller of Mullen Heller Architecture, the building features a trauma-informed design, including color palettes and lighting fixtures, which were chosen to promote healing. De La Fuente Construction completed the building renovation, utilizing more than $1.7 million in Community Development Block Grant Funds from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The City of Albuquerque’s Department of Health Housing and Homelessness administered this funding.