ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Nine families are getting off the street and into a new home now that a local nonprofit has opened its second location.

For 20 years, Saranam has given nearly 200 homeless families a space to live and learn.

“We provide a fully-furnished apartment for free for two years. But that really allows our families to not have to work, not have to pay the bills, so they can go to school and knock out as much education as they can while they’re with us,” said Tracy Weaver, the executive director of Saranam.

Weaver noted that they’ve seen families accomplish a lot with Saranam. She said they’ve seen a 77% success rate at exit and an 86% stability rate over time with alumni, as she describes them. That’s why they’re hoping to double their intake numbers.

“Now that we have our new campus open, we will be taking two classes a year. It’s not just a rolling intake. We require a referral from another agency or organization; background check, drug test, and then our current families in the program interview applicants,” Weaver said.

While the new campus currently provides housing for nine families, they will be able to accommodate 14 more families once they complete the campus in April 2025, in addition to 20 other families who live at their other campus.

It’s taken a lot to open the second campus. They originally set the opening date for April 2024.

“We were ready to move for an April intake on this campus but we didn’t have the electrical disconnect so we couldn’t finish or get our certificate of occupancy,” Weaver said.

Weaver said that challenges like those will never stop them from helping families in-need.

“There is a need out there that is really great to serve families who are homeless and that’s why we’re doing this. We’re doubling more than half our capacity to serve more families,” she said.

Saranam opens applications twice a year – in the spring and in the summer. You can visit this link to learn more and sign up.