For years, Tiny Home Village struggled to find residents. Now, the transitional housing project is nearly full.

Oct. 1—For the first time in her life, Danette Lynn Todd has a best friend.

Todd is 62. She has 16 grandkids and four great-grandkids.

She moved from Florida to New Mexico earlier this year, hoping to start a new life. The move was difficult; Todd ended up living in her car.

But soon after, Todd moved into a 120-square-foot studio in the Tiny Home Village, Bernalillo County's transitional housing project built in 2021. That's where she met her best friend — the pair take their two dogs to the park together and go for drives.

Todd calls the Tiny Home Village a "blessing." Post-traumatic stress disorder has painted over many of her memories, Todd said, but she wants to move forward now.

"I just want to make new memories — and happy memories," Todd said.

Todd is one of 25 current residents, or villagers, of the 30 studios, which encircle community gardens, shared bathrooms and a central kitchen and meeting space. One villager moved into permanent housing this past weekend.

Since the facility in Southeast Albuquerque opened, there have been difficulties reaching full occupancy. But now, even with several villagers transitioning into permanent housing over the past months, the brightly-colored neighborhood is almost full.

Six months after the village opened in early 2021, just eight residents lived there, which the then-resource manager attributed to a strict application process. Two years into the program, there had still never been more than 12 residents in the facility, which cost nearly $5 million to build. The price tag prompted some in the community to question if the county was getting enough bang for its buck.

But some changes have turned that around and allowed the facility to take in a "broader net" of applicants, said Sarah Spain, the county's manager of transition planning services.

First, a $30 monthly utility fee was removed, so housing is now totally free. The application process was also amended to allow in more people.

Initially, people had to be sober for 30 days before moving in. Later, that number was reduced to 10. But in 2022, the prerequisite was slashed entirely; now, residents just have to commit to working toward sobriety while in the Tiny Home Village.

Pam Acosta, Behavioral Health Initiative senior program manager for Bernalillo County, said there was an immediate increase in the number of qualifying applicants after the requirement was removed. In a week, the facility received 132 applications.

The Tiny Home Village was first managed by the Albuquerque Indian Center, which provides services to the homeless next door. The county took over in February 2022.

Neighborhoods around the village were promised strict vetting for villagers. Acosta said the county hasn't visited with neighbors around the facility since the sobering requirement was removed.

"But," she noted, "we also haven't received any complaints from neighbors."

In the application process, staff at the Tiny Home Village look for people who are interested in being part of a community and using the social services provided. Once living there, villagers contribute to keeping the property clean with a rotating chore chart.

Since the county took over management, just three or four villagers have been asked to leave, Acosta said, whether it be for drug use or threats of violence.

But, there were other problems that kept occupancy low, Acosta said. The village was experiencing a staffing shortage, which prevented full capacity. Security officers were left on their own for a few hours at night, as there were no social workers available to work the night shift.

"In the beginning, we didn't want to bring in a lot of people," Acosta said. "We could have filled the Village easy, but at the time we had like three staff members on a 24-hour basis, which wasn't healthy for anybody."

Pay was increased from $17 to $23 per hour. Now, the Village is almost fully staffed; just two of 10 positions are vacant.

Joseph Perez started working at the Tiny Home Village in August 2022. He recalls at that point there were just half-a-dozen villagers, and he worked with just four or five other people — about half of the current staffing levels. Finding people to fill all the shifts could be a struggle, he continued.

Several of the employees he started with have since left, Perez said.

"There was a lot of overtime, a lot of extra hours, a lot of long days," Perez said. "Long nights. But I think when you're in this line of work, helping people, making sure that they're safe is paramount."

Perez said he didn't mind the overtime, but working conditions improved at the beginning of the year when staffing levels were increased. He said the staff has grown close and look out for each other.

Perez smiled when asked about the raises.

"The appreciation that was shown just by getting those raises, it just makes all the work worthwhile," Perez said. "All the overtime, all the late nights, a little bit — a lot more — worthwhile, because we know it's being seen."

Perez is going to school for a psychology degree. He graduates this fall, but wanted to get a head start in the field.

He said seeing villagers move out into permanent housing can be sentimental, but he likes to see them succeed outside of the Tiny Home Village.

"I run into a lot of them, and they're still on that path," Perez said. "That's what I like to see. That's what makes me feel good."

Todd is excited to find her own apartment.

She's still adjusting to her new life — to the freedom, to living apart from family, to not having to mother people. Todd said she's been a "den mother" all her life; but she's trying to learn how to say "no" more often.

At the entrance of the Village is a mural painted by Albuquerque artist Jodie Herrera depicting the life cycle of a butterfly. Todd said the mural represents her life.

"I felt like I was a lonely little caterpillar," Todd said. "Not knowing where to go or anything. When I got here, it was like my cocoon. And when I get my apartment, my wings are going to spread like a butterfly."