What's happening with the Barber college

[nhamill]

Info to be posted here as I learn more and as meetings are planned. For now, meet up in Fox park on Sat May 25th 11am for 30 min to meet those who are interested and to help spread the word for an upcoming meeting with State of the Heart Rehab regarding their plans.

[nhamill]

Next meeting will be thurs may 30th at 6700 central SE at 6pm
Paul Chavez, executive director of State of the Heart recovery (https://stateoftheheartrecovery.com/) will be there.

Here's the rough agenda.

6pm: Neighborhood assoc starts the meeting
Paul gives background about State of the Heart and plans for the Barber College presented. ~20 min
With the remaining time, we'll allow audience members to line up with questions.
7pm done

[CKerwin]

What day is that meeting?

[nhamill]

What day is that meeting?

Forgot to list that in my second post!
Thurs may 30th at 6pm.

[CKerwin]

Nick, sorry to bug, but re the meeting, you posted 6700 Central NE and Anita told us it's SE. could you clarify and I will put it on the Nextdoor app and call my neighbors.
Thanks so much for all you are doing.
Charlotte Kerwin

[nhamill]

Nick, sorry to bug, but re the meeting, you posted 6700 Central NE and Anita told us it's SE. could you clarify and I will put it on the Nextdoor app and call my neighbors.
Thanks so much for all you are doing.
Charlotte Kerwin

Sorry! I had posted NE but it's 6700 Central Ave SE

https://www.google.com/maps/place/6700+ ... ?entry=ttu

[Artemmis]

Hi, Everyone,

Very sorry that I didn't see the information about the meeting last night at the Barber College about the methadone program planning to set up shop there. I would have "cleared the deck" and been present for that, had I seen the information sooner. I'm just getting connected here, and am not the most techno-savvy person on the block. Ha!

I'll be interested to see notes about the meeting. Had I been there, I would have asked about whether the program will include case managers to help methadone recipients access services re: basic needs like housing, primary healthcare, transportation, food, etc. In my experience, robust case management services are essential. Simply administering methadone, or any alternative medical intervention for those with opiate addiction, is merely a first step, and is not sufficient to really get the job done. So, that's my 2-cent's worth in a nutshell.

I will do my best to "keep up" with what's happening regarding this issue. I'm sure that there are concerns about this program bringing even more people with addiction issues into the neighborhood. Again, sorry to have missed this meeting last night.

Emily

[nhamill]

Glad you found the forum, Emily! Here's some info on the meeting. Hard to compress 1 hr down to 5 min, but I tried!

I didn't mention in the video, but Paul Chavez of State of the Heart Recovery did mention case management and housing options. There wasn't much detail given, but it was mentioned that State of the Heart Recovery has helped hundreds of people to secure housing as they participate in recovery with varying levels of independence based on their time of participation and compliance with recovery.

https://abqfairwest.org/2024/05/31/barb ... ing-recap/

Hi, Everyone,

Very sorry that I didn't see the information about the meeting last night at the Barber College about the methadone program planning to set up shop there. I would have "cleared the deck" and been present for that, had I seen the information sooner. I'm just getting connected here, and am not the most techno-savvy person on the block. Ha!

I'll be interested to see notes about the meeting. Had I been there, I would have asked about whether the program will include case managers to help methadone recipients access services re: basic needs like housing, primary healthcare, transportation, food, etc. In my experience, robust case management services are essential. Simply administering methadone, or any alternative medical intervention for those with opiate addiction, is merely a first step, and is not sufficient to really get the job done. So, that's my 2-cent's worth in a nutshell.

I will do my best to "keep up" with what's happening regarding this issue. I'm sure that there are concerns about this program bringing even more people with addiction issues into the neighborhood. Again, sorry to have missed this meeting last night.

Emily

[Artemmis]

Nick,

Thanks for your recap of the meeting at the Barber College yesterday. Again, sorry I wasn’t aware of it until afterward. I’m very willing to be involved and to help generate further questions to pose to Paul. Having worked in various community mental health and addiction treatment settings over the years, I have some thoughts on the subject, and what it takes to provide effective services. So, count me in. Afternoons and evenings are the best times for me to get together or Zoom with folks, or, if the preference is to try to orchestrate this via emails, I’ll do my best to participate in that way. Will await further guidance!

Thanks again, Nick.

Emily

[CKerwin]

Nick,
I’m sorry more people were not able to attend the meeting Thursday evening. Unfortunately it was quickly put together with not much notice and many people were afraid to go to that area of town. In response to your recap, I will post some of the neighbors’ takeaways I was given for the benefit of those who could not attend.
I don’t think it would have been quite so heated if Mr Chavez had not appeared so dismissive of our concerns and many times did not answer a direct question he did not like. Many people felt disrespected. As a person with businesses in our neighborhood that can have major impacts, he was not very informative or forthcoming. We have significant safety concerns. This methadone facility is not opening in a business district, it is opening in our backyards, literally. He did nothing to alleviate our concerns. This program is set to open in a few short weeks and the only communication we had prior to this meeting was to ask the neighbors behind him what color preference they had for the building. If he had not done that, we would have had no notification at all. All of us on Cagua and the surrounding streets are quite concerned for our property and the impact this will have. A methadone rehabilitation facility is a big deal. It impacts our personal safety, property safety, foot traffic, property values and a host of other things. According to Mr. Chavez, these people are free to come and go from the methadone clinic where they receive their “dose”, to this facility of their own free will. There is no transportation or supervision. According to my notes, the plan for 601 San Pedro, aka the Barber College building, is that the second floor will be used for IOP Group and Individual Therapy and the first floor will consist of Game rooms like an Escape Room, Splatter Painting, Immersive games etc. He did not say whether that would be open to the public. But it raises the concern of people “hanging out” and/or coming and going into our neighborhood. What happens with these clients when the facility is closed?
We all agree that there is a huge drug problem and homeless situation in this area but we are not sure this is a viable and safe solution. We want to see this move put on hold until our community can address our concerns with our District 6 representative present at a meeting with Mr Chavez. We need some accountability for State Of The Heart.
We plan to distribute flyers with this information around Fair West to let everyone know what is taking place and to ask them to attend the meeting on June 15th at Fox Park @ 11:00am.
Thanks,
Charlotte

[Artemmis]

Charlotte,

Thanks for your post and the information/feedback you provided. I'm interested to know a bit more about the meeting in Fox Park on June 15 at 11am. Is it being scheduled to gather more neighbors together to further address the proposed methadone clinic, or is it a more general kind of meeting? Will Mr. Chavez and our City Councilor, NIcole Rogers, be invited? I'll keep my eyes peeled for the flyers you mentioned, and for more information here, as well.

Thanks,

Emily

[CKerwin]

Hi Emily,
I apologize for not responding right away. I was hoping to have more information for you. Yes, the meeting on June 15th is for all the neighbors to discuss the Barber College building/methadone rehab. There has been a lot of interest and concerns. I have reached out to Nick Hamill, our neighborhood president to see if he has any more plans or how to set up meetings with our district 6 rep. and possibly her and Paul Chavez. We feel we need someone with some authority to help us navigate this situation. The flyers will start being passed out tonight as we try to get the word out to everyone. I will also put flyers in the plastic bin by the FairWest Association sign at the park tomorrow. You can pick one up there or as many as you would like to help distribute them.
Thank you for keeping up with this!

Charlotte

[nhamill]

Hi All,

I'd be happy to reach out to Nichole and I hope to speak with her this coming Thurs. I'll mention details and offer her the chance to attend. She is aware of State of the Heart Recovery from a prior meeting this year organized by Revitalize San Pedro Partnership/Cal-Linn so she already has a lot of context, but I don't know if she has ever spoken to Paul Chavez.

I'll post an update on the website and here with her response on Thrus/Fri. We can also reach out to the city for a mediator when we have organized questions.

Oh, and I'll post the Jun 15th flyer to the website with my next update tonight or tomorrow.

Thanks,
Nick

[CKerwin]

Thanks Nick, that’s great. We look forward to hearing what Nicole had to say. I appreciate you posting the flyer. Just trying to inform the neighborhood, most people are unaware and we’re glad to have the information.

Charlotte

[Artemmis]

Thanks, Charlotte and Nick . . .. .

I'll grab some of the flyers at the park about the June 15 meeting and distribute them on my block of Cardenas. I hope that some of my neighbors might be willing to come out and get involved, or at least be willing to learn more about what's going on with the Barber College site. I agree that it would be really helpful if we could get more specific information about the services to be provided, what sort of emergency/after hours support might be part of the plan, how much case management and housing assistance will be offered, etc. I'll be very interested to hear about Councilor Rogers position on this, so thanks for talking with her about this, Nick. If she'd be willing to meet with Paul Chavez and representatives of the neighborhood, that'd be even better.

Will stay tuned.

Thanks, again,

Emily

[nhamill]

Hey all,
I joined Nichole Rogers’ open zoom meeting today (along with Emily and Kathy from Fair West) and the barber college/State of the Heart Recovery topic was raised.

In March of this year, Nichole participated in a meeting along with business owners from the Cal Linn building, FWNA (Kathy, Nick R and I), Revitalize San Pedro Partnership, ACS, APD and zoning. After that meeting in March, she verified that State of the Heart (not including the Barber College at that point) appeared to be in compliance with the regulations required for operating.

Nichole has a conflicting event and won’t be able to attend on June 15th, but she knows an employee at State of the Heart and offered to ask if he would be interested in joining the neighborhood meeting. I emailed upcoming June 15th meeting details to Paloma Garcia, Nichole’s policy analyst, to pass along to the employee.

We can also reach out to the city to request a mediator for future meetings with State of the Heart Recovery and the neighborhood.

I think that’s all I have for now!

Thanks,
Nick

[Artemmis]

Thanks, Nick, for your recent update. I like your idea about requesting the services of a city mediator to help us in upcoming conversations re: the proposed use of the Barber College as a methadone site and IOP, and think that it might be good to see if such a person might be available to attend our upcoming meeting on June 15 at Fox Park. Not sure if Paul Chavez or any of his staff will attend that meeting, but just think that it might give a mediator some context, going forward, to get a feel for where the neighbors "are" regarding this issue. Just a thought. I was disappointed to hear that our city councilor and her staff are all busy on Sat. morning, due to the Juneteenth celebration at the Plaza, and won't be available to attend the meeting.

I'm very interested to hear about your recent conversation with the Friars, and will definitely stay tuned regarding a possible get-together with them in August. I've long wondered about them and their site on the corner of San Mateo and Copper, and would enjoy meeting some of them and having some conversation. I'd suggest that we consider offering to do a potluck, so that they don't have to do all of the cooking/feeding. Thanks for initiating that!

See you Saturday at the Park.

Thanks again,

Emily

[nhamill]

Some good info in this article published today: https://citydesk.org/2024/addiction-tre ... -district/

[nhamill]

Docs from last week's mediation are attached. Thanks to everyone who volunteered and worked towards making it happen!