Regular Governing Body Meeting - Second Wednesday — Wed, Sep 9, 2026 · 8.b Mayor's Homelessness Summit Report. (Sandy Emory, Community Services Department Director; sxemory@santafenm.gov)
2026 Mayor’s Homelessness Summit Key Outcomes, Priorities, and Recommended Next Steps Prepared by the City of Santa Fe Youth and Family Services Division Summit Overview June 29th, 2026 at the Santa Fe Convention Center with a morning and evening session that included over 300 attendees from the following areas: • Santa Fe Community • Elected Officials and Government leaders (City, County, and State) • Service Providers • Housing Experts • Behavioral Health Partners • Philanthropists • Faith-Based Communities • Businesses • Individuals with lived experience of homelessness 2 Summit design centered around three main goals for the present and future: • Advance a Collective Impact Vision • Strengthen the Homelessness Response System • Stabilize Existing Services & Scale Proven Solutions Breakout Sessions The morning and evening forums had discussions on specific priority area topics: Emergency Shelter & Transitional Housing Prevention & Diversion Encampment Management & Outreach Permanent & Supportive Housing Supportive Services & Behavioral Health Coordination and Infrastructure Protection and Advocacy Community Backing Emergency Shelter & Transitional Housing What the Summit established: Agreement that expanding low-barrier shelter capacity is a top priority, with a focus on using a connected referral approach accessible from all entry points; commitment to advance micro- communities as a proven model and build community support through engagement. Next Phase / Timeframe • The City will refine shelter definitions and standards to align with HUD and national best practices. Shelter providers: implement low-barrier principles where appropriate. 3-12 months. • The City will continue searching for a replacement for the 2801 Cerillos Rd facility that enhances the dignity of guests and replaces the facility per lease requirements. 18-24 months. 4 4 Prevention & Diversion Next Phase / Timeframe • Enhance Source of Income Discrimination Legislation (SOIDL) webpage with information. 6-9 months • Create Housing Rights formally within City structure by exploring an Office of Tenants Rights; increasing and enforcing tenants’ protections; disseminating tenants’ rights education and resources; and identifying funding support for eviction prevention. +12 month 5 5 What the Summit established: • Prevention is more effective for solving homelessness; Discussions about exploring an Office of Tenant Rights and/or other ways to enforce and/or increase tenants’ protections through new policy and strengthening existing City Policies. • Plan to create a webpage dedicated to rights, education, and resources. • Explore an Office of Tenants rights and/or other ways to enforce and/or increase tenant’s protections through new policy and strengthening existing City Policies. Encampment Management & Outreach 6 6 Next Phase / Timeframe • Convene a cross- department working group to build the response framework. 0-3 months • Support humane, trauma- informed approaches that protect both individual dignity and public safety. • Launch city’s first Encampment Management Policy. +12 months What the Summit established: • Strong interest in advancing coordination of services and engagement provided to encampment • Commitment to build a community-informed encampment response framework. • Policy should clearly separate outreach, public health and safety, and enforcement functions Permanent & Supportive Housing What the Summit established: Consensus on a Housing First operating philosophy and alignment with HUD's Extremely Low Income (ELI) standard at 30% below AMI. Next Phase / Timeframe The City will incorporate definitions and priorities into the Five-Year Strategic Plan, including strategies to expand landlord partnerships. 7 7 Housing First is an approach that prioritizes getting people into stable housing as quickly as possible, without preconditions of sobriety, treatment participation, or other requirements. Supportive Services & Behavioral Health What the Summit established: • Consensus on the value of expanding CONNECT (Unite Us) participation and build a more integrated behavioral health, housing, and healthcare continuum across the City and County. • The City is undertaking a Landscape Analysis to support recommendations on how to best allocate Opioid Abatement Settlement Funds. ds. Next Phase / Timeframe • Landscape Analysis on Opioid Abatement - completion 3-12 months • Enhance and invest in wraparound services to build life skills, recovery services (MAT), community inclusion, and transportation assistance. 24-48 months 9 9 Coordination and Infrastructure What the Summit established: Reaffirmed the City's convening role for homelessness response in Santa Fe; agreement to build a public-facing performance dashboard. 10 10 Next Phase / Timeframe • The City will coordinate an effort to establish a public facing homelessness dashboard stemming from the 5-year Strategic Planning Process. 3-12 months • Convene cross-sector coordination meetings with funders and other partners and advocate for increased funding to support homelessness services at all levels of government, and across sectors. 3-12 months Protection and Advocacy What the Summit established: Commitment to elevate a Lived Experience Cohort to better inform City policy and planning. Next Phase / Timeframe The City will convene an expanded cohort of individuals with lived experience in a working group to integrate feedback into the Strategic Plan. 3-12 months 11 11 Community Backing Next Phase / Timeframe • Expand public education and develop broader, more representative methods for gauging community perception across the entire city. • Strengthen neighborhood partnerships through Good Neighbor Agreements, volunteer pathways, and other ideas. 12 12 What the Summit established: • Participants agreed that long-term success in addressing homelessness requires stronger community support. • The three most prominent areas the community can support are affordable housing, family and youth services, and behavioral health services. • Common themes emerged where the community can support these topic areas: seek out education, advocate for improvements, become more involved in creating and supporting solutions, and keep an open mind. In Conclusion 13 13 Key Takeaways: • Housing First paired with trauma- informed, wraparound services is the shared operating principle. • Coordination should build on existing partnerships, and providers are already collaborating extensively. • Non-congregate shelter options and Micro Communities were repeatedly named as promising local models. IMMEDIATE (0–3 MONTHS) City Publish Summit report and share findings directly with participants. City + Community Convene the Lived Experience Cohort and the Encampment Response working group as follow-up steps from breakout sessions. City Begin Strategic Planning Process. Community Continue engagement with faith-based groups, philanthropy, service providers, small businesses, and other government agencies in supporting the broader goals of the Summit and Strategic Plan. Thank you!