Community opposition appears to have forced Interfaith Leap to search for another homeless shelter location for the third time in a little over a year.
The faith-based group wanted to operate the proposed shelter in Chimayó, off of State Road 76 near Dan’s Liquor. However, once neighbors got wind of the plan they organized against the shelter and gave members of Leap’s board an unwelcome reception Nov. 13 at a meeting in Chimayó. Española City Councilor and shelter proponent Eddie Maestas said the community’s negative reaction will likely force Leap to search for another spot.
“I think we’re gonna abandon the idea,” he said. “We don’t wanna antagonize anybody.”
The public meeting attracted about 40 angry residents carrying a petition opposing the shelter, which bore about 130 names. They expressed concerns about their safety and property values, and they were frustrated that Leap had not communicated its plans with them before entering into a rental agreement.
Maestas said Leap had hoped to rent three acres and a trailer from Richard Martinez for $1 a year and use donated buses to transport homeless people to and from Española. Chimayó resident and petition organizer Josh Martinez would be a neighbor to the shelter, and he said neither Leap nor Richard Martinez approached him about the plan.
“(Martinez) never told me anything about it. He told a few of the neighbors,” he said. “We just don’t feel like we need something like this around.”
Martinez approached Rio Arriba County to see if Leap was violating any County ordinances or would have to go through a public hearing process, but he was told there was nothing the County could do to stop the shelter from opening.
Josh Martinez said he is still waiting to hear from Leap about whether the group will go ahead with the plan, and he has continued work on the petition opposing it.
“I’ve got over 200 signatures now,” he said. “We’re not gonna drop the ball on it.”
Martinez said he was encouraged to hear of Maestas’ statement that Leap would seek an alternate location.
“I’m not against helping the homeless or helping anybody,” he said. “I just don’t want this in my backyard.”
Two previous locations in Española for the shelter had been proposed — on El Llano Road and on North Railroad Avenue — but both met with similar opposition, and the El Llano location would have required an expensive and time-consuming appraisal.
Maestas said he had hoped to have the shelter up and running this winter, but now he said he is looking at finding a home for the project sometime during the “coming year.”
San Juan Catholic Church Pastor Terry Brennan, himself a Leap Board member, said he hasn’t completely abandoned the idea of the Chimayó location, pending a consultation with other organizers.
“Our board needs to meet,” he said.
Brennan did say the Board will organize a search for alternate locations for the shelter, however.
“We don’t plan to give up,” he said.
Maestas said the Board has found other potential sites, though he declined to go into specifics.