Saranam expands program to West Side

Nonprofit building 27 more transitional living units for ABQ families

BY RICK NATHANSON

JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

The turning over of dirt in a vacant West Side lot is more than just the beginning of a new construction project.

To Yudina Valdes-Mesa and Leighann Plummer, it represents a new life. Both women are alumni of Saranam, the nonprofit that operates a 20-unit apartment and twoyear transitional living program for families with children in Albuquerque’s Northeast Heights. The new housing project being built near Montaño and Taylor Ranch NW will more than double Saranam’s capacity with an additional 27 units, said executive director Tracy Weaver.

Saranam’s program includes courses in life skills, parenting and financial management. Families are given a $50 weekly allowance, and scholarships are available for parents or guardians to earn a high school certification or post-secondary education, Weaver said.

“Families were leaving our program successfully, becoming self sufficient and stable citizens,” she said. “They were finishing their chosen educational programs, getting good jobs that supported their families, and their kids were doing well. We knew we had a model that needed replication.”

The new $9.3 million West Side facility is being constructed from former Albuquerque Public Schools portable buildings that will be renovated and converted into two- and four-bedroom living units.

BRIGHT SPOT

A $1 million contribution is being made from ADC LTD., a local security firm. The city of Albuquerque is contributing about $772,000, said Carol Pierce, director of the city’s Family and Community Services Department.

Valdes-Mesa was born into poverty in Cuba. Her parents died when she was 2, and she was raised by her grandmother. She knew early on that education was the key to improving her life. She went to school, became a registered nurse and parlayed that into a job as the resident nurse at a five-star hotel in Jamaica.

“At the time, I was involved in a very abusive domestic relationship. My son was 3 years old at the time and I felt trapped,” she said. “I contacted my cousin in Albuquerque who offered me a couch.”

Valdes-Mesa eventually applied for and received housing in Saranam’s apartment building near Eubank and Constitution NE.

During her time in the program, she got jobs in the community as an interpreter, a certified phlebotomist, a nursing assistant and finally earned her registered nurse certification. She is now a nurse case manager with Workers Compensation.

“I got to save all my money during the program, and by the time I left in 2019, I had opened a bank account, and was able to apply for a mortgage,” Valdes-Mesa said. “I’m a first-time home owner in Rio Rancho. My son had been shy and quiet from the trauma in Jamaica, but at Saranam, we took him to therapy. He’s now 10, is in fifth grade, enrolled in the gifted program, takes violin lessons and was selected for a leadership program for kids.”

Saranam, she said, “changed my life and my son’s life.”

Likewise for Plummer, who went from being “the girl next door at La Cueva High School,” to being a 16-year drug addict with mental health issues. She hit rock bottom after an arrest for drug trafficking, jail and homelessness.

“I checked into rehab in March 2017 and I’ve been sober ever since,” she said. “I knew I needed some sort of transitional living to get my life back on track and to become a self sufficient person and a mom. That’s when I found Saranam.”

Today, Plummer works as a dental assistant. She earned an associate degree in liberal arts from Central New Mexico Community College and plans on taking online courses through Arizona State University toward her bachelor’s degree.

“Saranam believed in me when I did not believe in myself,” Plummer said.