ABQ StreetConnect (ABQSC) is our specialized outreach team whose mission is to identify, engage, stabilize, and house individuals for whom traditional outreach methods have not worked. Our ABQSC program is disrupting a cycle of high system utilization and Heading Home is proud to offer this type of outreach.

ABQSC clients are the people in our community who have been banned from other nonprofits for being too acute, causing them to lose access to safe places and critical services. ABQSC clients are our community members who struggle with behavioral health issues and are continuously discharged from hospitals and then find themselves back on the streets. ABQSC clients are also our community members who are unable to meet basic requirements to access basic services and can’t access crisis stabilization because they struggle to manage their basic daily living skills. Our ABQSC team, comprised of six zealous individuals, is dedicated to helping those community members who have a tendency to be overlooked and underserved for being too difficult. This type of prioritized street outreach has impacted the lives of many people experiencing homelessness in the downtown area.

Before getting connected with Heading Home and the ABQSC team Abe an individual in his sixties who suffered from dementia, schizophrenia, alcohol use disorder, anxiety, hypertension, and diabetes was a high utilizer of emergency services. Other acute conditions he had included protein-calorie malnutrition, pneumonitis, an open head wound, hypothermia, hernias, and a leg fracture. Abe was referred to the ABQSC team because of his heightened state of instability. During his 220 days since receiving support from StreetConnect, he had 17 consecutive days in the hospital followed by 118 days with no hospital visits. Our navigators helped Abe settle into appropriate housing and continues to stay in touch with him but without the intensity and frequency needed when the team first started working with Abe. Our team has been able to step in and help when needed and has greatly reduced the number of emergency department visits for Abe.

Abe’s story is just one example of the many individuals our team has helped since the beginning of the program in 2017.  The type of outreach our team offers is data-driven and we wouldn’t be able to have this level of success without collaboration with the Albuquerque Police Department, UNM Hospital, City of Albuquerque, Albuquerque Healthcare for the Homeless, Blue Cross Blue Shield, and countless others. To learn more about our program and the type of work they are doing click here.