“My Friend’s Place,” emergency teen shelter in Las Cruces reopens
The Las Cruces Emergency Teen Shelter held their grand re-opening Thursday, Feb. 28.
Brian Cavanaugh, CEO of Families and Youth Incorporated (FYI), said the shelter, now named “My Friend’s Place” is for homeless and runaway youth.
“We are concentrated on providing a home like friendly environment so children who are thinking about running away, who are maybe finding themselves in s troubled situation, can access with no commitment, access this facility and talk to people, get resources,” Cavanaugh said.
Cavanaugh said FYI originally ran the shelter for 25 years but in 2013 the shelter was transferred to two other organizations in a period of three years and was then subsequently shut down.
“After it shut down the community realized what a huge gap was created when abused, neglected and homeless runaway youth had no other place to go,” Cavanaugh said. “Then traveling outside of our county, outside of the southern part of the state just to be safe and be housed.”For the past 18 months efforts have been taken to re-open the facility.
An outpouring from the community which included the City of Las Cruces, allowed for the rebuild of the facility and furnishings.
Cavanaugh believes it took a crisis before the value of the shelter was appreciated. He said after it was shut down the community realized a huge gap was created when abused, neglected and homeless runaway youth had no other place to go and were leaving the county to be safe and housed.
Cavanaugh said the primary focus is to get youth that are on the streets and treat their immediate needs specifically a safe place to stay, with meals and a bed. Beyond that, the ultimate goal is to reunite them with family or an alternative safe place to live.
They can stay up to 90 days and are offered life skills, counseling, educational development and make sure the teens stay enrolled in school.
The shelter has room for 16 teens serving ages between the 12 and 17. It is funded by both the City of Las Cruces and FYI and is staffed 24/7.
The shelter is located on 880 E. Idaho Ave. across from Albertsons. For more information, call 575-522-4004 or visit their website fyinm.org.
