The Good Shepherd Center (GSC)
The Good Shepherd Center plays a key role in facilitating our homeless population; make no mistake, that is why they are here. As an added benefit, they have a rock star rehab facility on campus, and countless programs. I was unhoused for about three years. The Good Shepherd saved my life. It’s saved many lives, and yes, it will save your life as well. You need to have a little grit and have fallen through sublevels of molten rock, past the final layer of hell, and when you finally reach rock bottom; Call The Good Shepherd Center. 505-243-2527. It will be the smartest thing you’ve ever done.
Abstract
What to expect: a couple small yet vital details
•Intake is throughout the week, Monday-Friday 9am-12 noon and 12:30-2 p.m.
•Don’t lie or argue with the Brothers. This is tough love. You must earn their respect.
•This environment is tailored for the jail and prison systems, so it can be a shock, just hold fast.
Contact Information
Welcome to The Good Shepherd Center(Rehab)
Curbside meals served per day
Meals served last year
Unduplicated Guest
Weekly Work/Education Hours
Hospitality is the relationship between a guest and a host, where the host receives the guest with a degree of goodwill, which includes the reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, and strangers.
The Good Shepherd Services
Serious about getting a house call Nate at (505) 243-2527 ext. 209.
Housing Program
Let the Shepherd help you find safe housing.
Fresh Start Rehab
The rehab of hard knocks. Intake is tone everyday.
Temp Shelter
A temporary shelter for men, check in; 6pm daily.
Respite beds
Just got released from the hospital and want to heal?
Daily Meals
Open to anyone who feel the need to eat. Free food!
Men’s Clothing
Just got released from jail? Need a suit for court?
Mail Service
Like to wander? Well, let GSC hold and watch your mail.
Referrals
Needs a letter for court? Or a referral to a female shelter?
COVID SAFE
GSC is COVID certified and has been deemed safe.
Why pick the Twinky, when you can eat the whole cake?
Why do the best rehabs in the world have to be in Malibu, or Catalina, or Switzerland? Why can’t the best rehab in the world be inside a homeless shelter in Downtown Albuquerque, New Mexico? Traditional rehabs are extremely flaky, you have no clue what you are paying for, Why? Because you don’t know addiction and you can’t see what’s inside. When you go to traditional rehabs you mainly see the same demographic staring right back at you when you are eating dinner and bragging about having two weeks sober or clean time. What the fu** is the purpose of going to a rehab where all you see are the same people you hung out with before? Imagine going to a place where everywhere you turned you saw what the end of the road looked like. Men that are on the final legs of their lives, staring back at you with their eyes saying, “this is you in ten years, get your sh** together now” Welcome to the Good Shepherd Center, one of the most effective, in-depth, and hardcore rehab in the world.
Imagine salvation from drugs, alcohol, tobacco, and dishonesty. That would be similar to winning the lottery for us addicts and alcoholics. Imagine there was a place that could heal your shattered soul and at the same time teach us the meaning of living a good life? But, that it was going to be the hardest thing you’ve ever done in your life, if your not a felon you are in the minority, and if you haven’t been to jail or prison you just haven’t been caught yet. It’s rough, I am both a felon and did a year and some change in jail. So, I fit in like a glove. So will you. Just shut up and listen.
“We strive to serve, with respect and compassion, the most vulnerable in our community by providing sustainable resources, services, and programs that meet the most basic needs.”
-The Good Shepherds Mission
Ba Humbug, you say. There are people, places, and things that we could live without, that we wish never existed, that hope couldn’t beat. Unfortunately, the boogeyman does exist, is real, they just come in abstract shapes and sizes. Addiction is something the world could have lived without, add suicide to the mix, and you’re looking at 150,000 plus deaths per year. Add in nicotine with around 500,000 deaths per year. Top it off with the sub-addictions, the micro addictions, and the addictions no one thinks are addictions, such as a food addiction, and that’s a whopping number,close to a million deaths per year.
preventable (n): able to be avoided or prevented. *About 90% of those deaths could have been prevented. You will die soon if you don’t get help.
The Shepherd At A Glance
I had seen this building so many times and never knew that it was. I stayed at The Shepherd for two years, then worked as the case manager for a brief stint. It saved my life and I am eternally grateful to the Brother’s and staff for that.
At private rehabs, you get massages, private rooms, all the amazing enmities a luxury all-inclusive resort would have. The $20k price tag sucks, and it’s only for one month. Think about it. Please. Quick. Why in the world would you go to one of these places to get pampered when pampering your selfish ass is what got you here in the first place? As the great Julian Ortega (wait till you meet him, hehe) would say, “you must be a genius”. The point that he makes is simple, if you want to win this battle you must dumb down and make life simple. A Luxury rehab is the last thing you need. You need a reality check my friend, Passages Malibu is not reality, The Good Shepherd Center is very much reality. Let me show you why.
“Normies don’t know what it feels like to throw away a box of needles, a bottle of alcohol, a crack pipe, or a bottle filled with fentanyl blues, or worse yet quit smoking nicotine. To most addicts, addiction is a lifestyle, a selfish and often devastating lifestyle.”
-Andres, Shepherd Class of 2017
The Good Shepherd Curriculum
encouragement
You are here because you never grew up. Alcohol and drugs melted away your cognitive abilities to where most of the time you’ll have to start at square one, everytime.
STARTING OVER
No shame in starting over, if it makes sense to, do it. You need help. 505-243-2527
You must work
The Shepherd is the best rehab in the world because they don’t mess around with bullsh** they go for and treat the problem. ASAP. And what in the world could this problem be? We have so many, right? Discipline. Yes. As people struggling with addiction and alcoholics, we lack fundamentals, keeping a job, paying bills, paying rent, basically, we forget or never learned how to become a functioning member of society. So the Shepherd puts your ass to work that same day, you’ll be doing things you never thought you would be doing, things that will try and break you, senior programmers giving you sh** so you’ll fail. Don’t worry you are in good company; everyone has gotten hazed. Julian Ortega said, “Addicts and alcoholics are so sensitive”. It’s so true, we get butt hurt at the drop of a dime. So, you will work eight hours a day, if you are new and slacking off, you will be kicked out. This rehab is in huge demand and there is always someone ready to replace you.
YOU MUST LEARN
Learning is standard across the board at good rehabs, it’s a very objective type of awareness, but a necessary one, the more you are aware of your surroundings the better prepared you will be when you graduate. It’s all about knowing what you’re doing and already knowing what lies ahead. One thing that people struggling with addiction and alcoholics are good at is keeping things close to the vest and, basically lying, so, keeping a journal is super important. I’ve been to four other rehabs and failed all four, they all said to journal, when I got to the Shepherd I started journaling and life is good.
Classes at The Good Shepherd Center
Continuous learning classes that include: life skills, relapse prevention, pastoral counseling, Housing Re-Establishment Program, tutoring, guest speakers, and so much more.
218 iron Ave SW
The campus of The Good Shepherd takes up a full city block. This is where you are going to go for your intake, this is where the dorms are located and where the kitchen is. Remember don’t bullsh** the Brothers, they have been doing this a long time and can see right through you; you must earn their respect.
Heroes and Legends
The Good Shepherd Hero
The Shepherd is no exception. They have countless heroes each day that step up to the proverbial plate and dedicate themselves to the greater cause. It’s important to me to celebrate these people and their accomplishments. Today’s article lets us talk about the one who gives out the toughest love. E. Julian Ortega.
The Good Shepherd Hero
E. Julian Ortega, Program Director
There is a venerable man who has worked at the Good Shepherd Center for almost thirty years; he has to be pushing 77 now, and he could still kick my ass with one arm. I got to the Shepherd in April of 2017, it was a Friday, back then they only did intakes on Wednesdays. I get there to the front desk and ask this extremely grumpy man if I could get into the program. He said, “NO!, intakes are on Wednesdays, can’t you read the sign? But, you can be here at 6 pm and Jeff should let you in.” I was so happy. Why? Because I had but the clothes on my back. That was it. I asked the grumpy man his name so I could shake his hand, and he said, “Paul. Paul Gronemeir.” Paul needs to end up being my best friend, go figure. Anyway, I stayed until Monday and one of the Programmers ended up taking me to see the Program Director, E. Julian Ortega. Julian asks me if I’m ready to change my life, I say yes, he says, “Welcome to The Good Shepherd”
Julian, is a pioneer in the field of substance use disorders, he did two tours of duty in Vietnam, was an alcoholic and an addict, and only has the use of one arm. He is a survivor. I ended up working alongside him for many years, he told me at the beginning, “you stay loyal to me and I will stay loyal to you.” He was my second dad, the tuff love dad. When you meet him, he will scare you, if you fu** off, he will kick you out in a second. His famous line is, “I would kick my own mother out if she tested positive dope.”
E. JULIAN ORTEGA
The Program Director
Mr. Julian has dedicated his life to drug and alcohol counseling, helping men fight their demons and put their lives back together one broken piece at a time. He has been able to compartmentalize the people that are serious about their recovery and the ones that aren’t, but is able to help both of them, like an unconscious bias, Julian is a, Good Shepherd Hero Today.
Addicts and alcoholics can’t listen for nada, just come in and sit the fu** down and listen homes.
Why you should attend
The Good Shepherd will save your life, but, it can only guide you; you have to do the rest, you have to want this, you have to live this, you have to make it your lifestyle. They say that you can only do it for yourself, thats bullsh**, I tried it that way and it didn’t work. I can’t tell you what will work for you, but only what worked for me. The Shepherd worked for me. Anna, my ex-partner worked for me, my family worked for me. The process of rehab reentry into society was hard, really hard. I almost didn’t make it and I would not have had it not been for Anna, Jeff, Paul, Julian and Brother Sean. Brother Sean was a huge support, and an amazing Brother, he gave me the chance of a lifetime. I blew that job off, but, I ended up finding what I was good at, web design has always been my passion the last ten years, I’m one of the best and I’m paying the Shepherd back by volunteering my time writing all I can. Do you have a loved one that has benefited from the Shepherd? Donate to them!
“Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.”
– Helen Keller
Donate Anything You Can
This is how the Good Shepherd survives; can you believe it? Donation only, for Charities Unlimited, never turn your back on who needs it. And the people of Albuquerque have been in support of Good Shepherd’s homeless program and the Fresh Start Recovery Program for decade. The City of Albuquerque is a much better city to live in because of the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd will live long after we are all gone. It will end up saving millions of lives, countless families, and will never ask for anything in return. Please donate today.
Connect With the Shepherd
Fresh Start Substance Abuse Recovery
The Good Shepherd Center
