HOUSING THOSE WHO SERVED

VETERANS’ HOUSING COMPLEX WITH TREATMENT AND SERVICES BREAKS GROUND IN ALBUQUERQUE

The Veterans Integration Centers (VIC) recently broke ground on a transitional housing complex for veterans. It’s being built on three acres of vacant land near I-25 and Gibson. The campus will include 42 beds and 33 units of low-income housing. Also planned are a food pantry, gym, and mental health and substance abuse treatment programs.

The Albuquerque Journal reported a 2022 count of 86 unhoused veterans in the city. VIC’s transitional housing facility will provide vets a temporary place to live while they reintegrate back into society. Its programs will help with post-traumatic stress disorder and general life skills.

The groundbreaking was met with protests from some people from the surrounding community. The Kirtland Community Association stated opposition in two news sources; the Association claims to support vets, yet doesn’t want the facility “in our neighborhood.”

The facility’s location is a mixed-use zone, a vacant lot between a medical complex and a hotel, not in the middle of a residential neighborhood. Additionally, the complex will be gated, with security cameras, and residents will have curfews.

The assertion that this transitional housing program would increase problems defies logic. Right now, many veterans have no place to go. They’re living, sleeping, and struggling on these streets. The unhoused crisis won’t get better without concrete solutions for affordable housing and a path to get there. This requires investment and buy-in from our communities. The VIC is an important step toward caring for and reintegrating those who sacrificed— mentally and physically—in the armed forces.