ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Albuquerque Community Safety (ACS) is transporting a record number of people to warming shelters in the overnight hours. Drivers with the ACS Overnight Shelter Transport dispatch from eastside and westside locations to bring homeless people to warm shelters between 8:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m.
They’ve seen such a large increase in need, transporting 70 people on Thursday night alone. “Last night, the city’s westside shelter saw over 603 clients, and ACS was able to transport well over 70 individuals the past couple nights,” Jorge Hernández said with ACS. “Six of them, just last night, were children.”
In December, ACS transported over 1,230 individuals to local shelters, the highest monthly total to date, representing a 92% increase compared to last December. “We launched November 1,” said ACS Deputy Director Walter Adams. “From November through last night, we transported over 2,200 individuals.”
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Adams thinks accessibility and ACS’s expansion are what’s contributing to the rapid increase in need. “We understand not everyone has access to a phone or able to call,” Adams said. “So we’re doing more proactive outreach to individuals.”…