Our Albuquerque Opportunity Center (AOC)  is a large campus with an outdoor garden, computer lab, storage area, showers, laundry facilities, medical examination rooms, main dorm, Respite Care wing, a library, and a classroom area. During the week the campus is maintained by our facilities team that consists of one maintenance person and two custodial staff. On the weekend the campus is maintained by one custodial staff and our Respite Care Program Manager and Respite Care Program guests help by emptying all the trash, gathering items to be recycled, and setting those aside for a once-a-week recycle drop off at the local waste management facility. The facilities team ensures our facility has been properly cleaned each day and is essential to the AOC operation.

The list of things our facilities team manages is quite extensive. The team follows a checklist each day to make certain, sweeping, mopping, disinfecting all common surfaces and other cleaning duties have been completed for every office, bathroom, or room on campus.  They also pressure wash the showers twice a week to ensure the bathrooms are as clean as possible.

Recently due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the facilities team has been hard at work paying extra attention to disinfecting all commonly used areas, doorknobs, countertops, and bathrooms to prevent not only COVID-19 but other viruses from making their way into the facility and spreading amongst the guests. The facilities team also works to ensure all PPE is stocked and available to all staff.

Our facilities director, Jesse Hugg, oversees the facilities team and also has an extensive list of responsibilities. He makes sure all cleaning and maintenance supplies are in stock and ordered in a timely fashion, he conducts walkthroughs almost every day of the entire facility to make sure it is cleaned as outlined in the daily checklists. He also helps ensure the facility is safe for guests and staff by conducting monthly safety and security walkthroughs to make sure all emergency equipment is in proper working order, he looks at fire extinguishers, exit signs, handicap door buttons, etc. Additionally, Jesse works with our local companies once a year to conduct all necessary inspections such as, fire control panel, backflow prevention, sprinkler systems, etc. and work with the fire marshal to get the annual fire inspection.

Improvements are consistently being made to the AOC facility based on a walkthrough done monthly with David Sisneros, the Emergency Housing Director for the AOC. David works closely with Jesse to identify big projects. For example, recently both decks at AOC got replaced as the old ones were in bad shape and created a hazard. If the facilities team can accomplish the work inhouse they will, if they have to contract with local vendors then they do that as well. If they run into something that has been broken, damaged, or needs replacing maintenance, and Jesse will fix it, or replace it unless it requires a professional to address such as electrical, large plumbing jobs, etc. Our guests are grateful for a clean and safe campus to call home!