Gallup City Council approves $70,000 emergency funding to save NOVA 3 housing

David Conejo’s NOVA 3 recovery housing residents at the Howard Johnson by Wyndham motel were spared an imminent eviction when the Gallup City Council approved an emergency funding package on Feb. 10 that made $70,000 available to keep the program operating through the end of March. Council action aimed to prevent a program collapse and to keep current residents housed, at least for now.

The Feb. 10 vote provided a time-limited infusion of $70,000 explicitly tied to keeping NOVA 3 residents housed until the end of March. City documents and public statements describe the allocation as emergency funding to avert displacement, but the full breakdown of how the money will be spent has not been made public.

NOVA 3 was launched by David Conejo in 2021 after Rehoboth McKinley Christian Health Care Services closed the WellSpring Recovery Center and after Conejo’s termination as the hospital’s CEO in 2020. Conejo has said he “decided to start an outpatient program rather than an inpatient program because he thought it would be easier at the time, when COVID was still rampaging through New Mexico,” and NOVA 3 has operated as a recovery housing program since its founding.

The immediate beneficiaries of the council action are people currently living at the Howard Johnson by Wyndham motel, whose potential eviction prompted the emergency request. Public language around the council action includes the phrase “at least for now,” underscoring the temporary nature of the relief and the program’s limited runway under the $70,000 allocation.

A city-affiliated or community voice identified only as Collins criticized the motel arrangement as unsustainable, saying, “We’ve got to come up with a better solution than what we’ve got now, because what we’ve got now is not good.” Collins also acknowledged that motel living “doesn’t fit everyone’s needs.” Local partners are exploring alternatives: the Hozho Center is reportedly looking to work with Housing New Mexico on a possible apartment complex intended to serve as transitional housing that could better match recovery needs.

Public records tied to the emergency package contain an incomplete line — “The city split the” — leaving unclear how the $70,000 will be allocated among rent, arrears, case management, or other operating costs. The number of NOVA 3 residents housed at the Howard Johnson motel and the source of the city funds (general fund, contingency, or another account) were not specified in the materials available with the emergency action.

Unless a longer-term arrangement is secured by the end of March, NOVA 3 faces another funding cliff that could prompt renewed displacement pressure. City officials, NOVA 3 leadership and partners such as the Hozho Center and Housing New Mexico will need to provide a detailed plan and budget breakdown to ensure continuity of housing and services beyond the temporary $70,000 allocation.