Santa Fe’s Micro-Communities: Small Villages of Shelter

Santa Fe has been trying a small-village approach to shelter: clusters of prefabricated pallet homes, each for one or two people, with hygiene stations and around-the-clock staffing. The first micro-community opened in 2024 in the parking lot of Christ Lutheran Church, which helps manage the site.

City officials have reported that 72 percent of the people who stayed there moved into permanent housing or had housing vouchers in hand and were on waitlists. The City Council has since approved a second site near Rodeo and Cerrillos roads, beside the Genoveva Chávez Community Center, meant for families with children, and the city has spoken of placing 30 to 50 tiny homes on a city-owned site. Promising, and still unfolding; the city has said it needs county and state help to grow the effort.

Sources: Santa Fe City Councilors approve site for second pallet home community (KRQE) · State lawmakers question Santa Fe official on shelter shift (Source NM) · Santa Fe launches micro-communities for unhoused (KSFR)