For The Life Link, the challenge wasn’t what to do. It was where to do it.
Since its founding in the 1980s, the nonprofit has been slowly expanding its reach. What started as a hotel-turned-shelter for homeless women has turned into one of the primary behavioral health providers caring for Santa Fe’s indigent and homeless residents, while operating case management services, street outreach, supportive employment and housing programs.
But as The Life Link grew, the space that housed its central administrative and case management hub — the first floor of a building on Cerrillos Road — did not. It became so crowded that the organization’s staff — 84 people, serving about 1,500 clients — sometimes had to work in double- or triple-occupancy spaces. New programs were nonstarters due to lack of room.
That’s about to change. By the end of summer, The Life Link is set to move into a new facility at 2000 St. Michael’s Drive, a change CEO Michael DeBernardi said will give the organization space to grow and expand its programming.
“It’ll just allow us to do more of what we do,” he said.
Gabriela Campos/The New Mexican
The change of address comes at an uncertain time for many healthcare providers as they grapple with the anticipated effects of the 2025 federal budget reconciliation bill signed into law last summer by President Donald Trump. The state Health Care Authority has estimated New Mexico will lose $8.5 billion in federal funding for provider payments between 2028 and 2037 as a result of the cuts to Medicaid in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Though DeBernardi acknowledged Medicaid reimbursements make up the “biggest part” of The Life Link’s budget, he said there’s stability in providing the behavioral health care and social services that will always be in high demand.
“The bottom line is that these problems aren’t going away,” DeBernardi said. “This work is always going to be needed, and so I believe there will always have to be some kind of a system in place to pay for it.”
The Life Link has considering establishing a new primary address for a while now, DeBernardi said.
The building that houses the organization’s central hub on Cerrillos Road is owned by another nonprofit. The Life Link was renting the first floor, while providing services to people who live in supportive housing on the upper floors.
But the organization was looking for something more permanent, DeBernardi said: “We need a place that’s really our home.”
A purchase plan for the St. Michael’s Drive building came together with financing from Homewise Inc. and support from Anchorum Health Foundation. Between purchase and renovation, the cost of the new building will be about $2.5 million, DeBernardi said.
He called the move a financial “no-brainer.”
“We are going to be saving money by owning this building and having our own mortgage. Between what we were paying for rent and security and maintenance and everything on the building that we’ve been renting, we’ll actually be coming out a little bit ahead and have an asset for the organization moving forward,” DeBernardi said.
The new space on St. Michael’s Drive still contains traces of the building’s history as an office for the New Mexico Department of Corrections’ Probation and Parole division, like wired glass check-in windows, an abundance of bathrooms and stacks of motivational posters.
Gabriela Campos/The New Mexican
But efforts to “deinstitutionalize” the space are underway, DeBernardi said. He already has a few external walls picked out as locations for murals, and new rooms have been framed to create private offices for case managers.
The Life Link’s case management department — the organization’s single largest group of employees — as well as its administration and human trafficking aftercare teams will make the move to St. Michael’s Drive.
The Life Link’s treatment building, owned by the organization on Declovina Street, and the building that contains its psychosocial rehabilitation and housing programs, on Luana Street and leased from Santa Fe County, will continue operations as usual.
The Life Link will also continue to provide services to people participating in supportive housing programs on the upper floors of its original building.
Gabriela Campos/The New Mexican
The one challenge DeBernardi foresees with the new space: There is no bus line along St. Michael’s Drive, limiting transportation options to and from appointments for some clients. As a temporary fix, DeBernardi said, The Life Link will regularly run a van between its buildings off Cerrillos Road and its new hub on St. Michael’s Drive.
Establishing another space for The Life Link will be a risk, DeBernardi said — but he argued it’ll be a worthwhile one.
“It’s a leap of faith, but I think it’s faith based on past experience that this will work out — because it’s good work,” he said. “… This is caring for the community.”