NOT IN MY BACKYARD. That was Patricia Morales-Cano’s initial response to a homeless shelter opening in her Silver City neighborhood in 2023. Her concerns seemed justified when crime—and fear—increased. “My property was broken into five times,” says the 71-year-old professor emeritus of Spanish and Chicano Studies at Western New Mexico University.
To address the problems, Morales-Cano wrote to the Town of Silver City to plead for help and created the Housing and Behavioral Health Taskforce. “I wanted that shelter to move out of our neighborhood,” she admits. “But my neighbors always said we needed to help the homeless.”
Made up of social workers, attorneys, educators, and nonprofit employees, the task force met twice a week to tackle issues related to law enforcement, basic needs, education, and outreach. They established new bus stops at the shelter and the food pantry, but involvement waned when little else was done. Resolute, Morales-Cano focused on two issues: restrooms and limited access to shelters. When another member suggested a warming center, Morales-Cano proposed the town open a zero-barrier emergency warming center at the former Silver City Recreation Center off Gold Street.
The city suggested Morales-Cano partner with a nonprofit. By January, however, she hadn’t found a willing organization and felt guilty being in her own cozy house. She persuaded city leaders to hire someone to run the facility. “The person who brought us the idea stepped up,” she recalls. “Within four hours of hiring Tiffany Lindsey, the emergency warming center was open.”
Patricia Morales-Cano stepped up to create a safe, warm place for her community.
Photograph by Gabriella Marks.
On especially frigid or damp nights, anyone in need of a warm, dry place knew where to go. “We’ve lost three or four homeless people each winter—just freezing to death,” says Silviano Smith, a frequent guest at the emergency warming shelter. “It gets bitter cold here at 6,000 feet.”
Supported by $9,000 in public and private funding, the emergency warming center was open 63 times from January through March, serving 148 people between the ages of 16 and 72. “I was bombarded by nothing but good vibes,” Smith says. “If we came in from the cold, they offered something warm, whether soup or coffee or a sandwich.”
Lindsey cooked and assembled cots for the guests while other volunteers helped overnight and offered to clean. Morales-Cano was among those seeking donations and bringing home-cooked meals.While spending Friday nights there, she stayed anonymous at first. But when she realized someone was peddling illegal substances outside the center, Morales-Cano identified herself. “I got them together and said, ‘I’m the one who got this going, and if some of you are selling drugs to other guests, I will stop this.’ ”
Smith remembers chatting with some other men: “They said, ‘This is one good thing we have, and be damned if they take that away because of a selfish reason.’ ”
Gradually, Morales-Cano’s assessment of homelessness changed. “I realized many were from local families,” she says. “That was an eye-opener and heartbreaking for me.” This fall, she submitted a proposal to reopen the emergency warming center. “We want to partner with organizations so those who want to work on their mental health and addictions can be helped,” she says. “We’re hoping this is an answer to the problems we have downtown.”
