Fwd: Tiny Home Village to be Expanded in International District
Tawnya Mullen
From: International District News <idn...@substack.com>
Date: Tue, Mar 10, 2026 at 4:46 AM
Subject: Tiny Home Village to be Expanded in International District
To: <tmiente...@gmail.com>
Tiny Home Village to be Expanded in International DistrictAction follows demolition of American Indian Centerby Damon ScottBernalillo County officials recently purchased a half-acre plot of land in the International District for $290,000 to expand its Tiny Home Village development. The plot is where the American Indian Center (AIC) was demolished in February. Both the AIC, when it was operating, and the Tiny Home Village, a transitional housing program, are projects that serve those in an area with some of the starkest examples of chronic homelessness, trauma, health issues, drug addiction and overdose, and mental and behavioral health struggles. When the AIC closed in early 2025 due to financial issues, it left a significant gap in services for those in the vicinity of where it was located at 105 Texas St. SE between Central and Zuni. It served about 250 meals a day and allowed people to use its address to receive mail and find some respite.
While area residents and Native American organizations, including a nearby First Nations Community HealthSource clinic, stepped in to distribute meals and be a temporary location for mail distribution, overall needs in the International District remains high. Officials at Americans for Indian Opportunity estimate that Native Americans represent 40% of Albuquerque’s homeless population but only 8.5% of the total population. Some future help could be on the way with a newly incorporated Albuquerque Urban Indigenous Resource Center, which would also function as a community space. That project is now in the early stages of development and International District News will report on its progress and potential in a future issue. ‘The need is there’Today’s Tiny Home Village development, meanwhile, was built on land at 101 Texas St. SE, adjacent to the former AIC. “When they were going out of business, they gave the county first right of refusal to buy the parcel that had their building on it,” Wayne Lindstrom said. “The building was not in a condition to warrant renovation as opposed to demolition.”
Lindstrom is the deputy county manager of the Behavioral Health Authority and has more than 50 years of experience in the behavioral health field. He said site plan and design work is underway with the thought that another 18 tiny homes could be built on the plot. He said the occupancy level at the current 40-unit Tiny Home Village has stayed consistently full in recent years. The project cost $5 million to build and has annual operating costs near $1.24 million. “As soon as we have somebody who is ready to move into more stable housing there’s somebody else coming in practically in the next day or two,” Lindstrom said. The Tiny Home Village welcomed its first residents (18 and older) in 2021. Residents can stay for up to 24 months, but officials said the average length of stay is closer to 4-to-6 months. Along with housing units, there is a common house with bathrooms, showers, a laundry room, kitchen and communal area. “Obviously, the need is there. It’s in the International District, and certainly that district has been challenged with poverty and all its consequences, including homelessness,” Lindstrom said. “That’s been a priority area for this kind of programming.” More on the Tiny Home Village is here. Questions, comments, corrections? Simply respond to this email. Love local Albuquerque Journalism? Subscribe to these sister newsletters! Nob Hill News
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© 2026 Lindsay Wood
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